Unplugged
by Sneal
Summary: The six Titans (Dick, Rae, Vic, Gar, Garth, Karen) have already become an important part in the history of both Zion and the Matrix, but a greater threat looms ahead for all of humanity... (Final Chapter: The conclusion of Alpha.) Completed... please RR
1. Loop Train

He dropped from the building, sweat caking his shirt, causing the wound to sting. The man lifted his head, then ran, his hair flying wildly.

Something careened into him, a truck coated in a dark aura. He pointed the small pistol at a dark blue cloak, which suddenly vanished.

"Get away from me," the Trainman groaned. He jumped to his feet and ran down the subway stairs.

Four others followed him.

The Trainman checked his many watches, and then looked up with a wild grin. He fired forward as the cloaked figure reappeared. It dodged and created a black shield.

He jumped into the railroad as a screeching sound drew nearer.

One of the figures jumped into the pit, but the Trainman punched him backwards. He looked surprised, but the Trainman was not. He was God here.

The Trainman leapt up and out of the pit one second before the train whizzed by.

By the time the subway had gone by, the Trainman had disappeared. The five shook their heads.

"He got away."

"The authorities want him for something."

Three tall men in suits walked into the dimly lit room. "I see you have failed, again. What use are you to us if you cannot even catch a train?"

The leader lifted his head.

"Don't worry. We'll get you your man."


	2. Truthbearer Morpheus

The Trainman made it back to the Chateau restaurant, bleeding and coughing.

"My God, what ze hell happened to you?" the Merovingian shouted as the program stepped into the lounge, dripping blood onto the hand-woven carpets.

"The Agents... they've gotten some freaky kids to help them. They must want to end her peace."

The Merovingian smiled. Johnson and Thompson were his own creation, developed by him specifically to foil the Oracle's plans. He, of course, had programmed them into wanting to end any peace the One might make.

He hadn't, however, programmed them to attack his minions.

He looked up. The sound of gunshots rang throughout the halls. The Merovingian raised his eyebrow.

The building shook. The Merovingian grabbed the table, and Persephone smiled her fake smile. The Trainman and the other exiles present looked around warily.

The building shook a second time. The Merovingian dived out of the way as a helicopter burst through the priceless stained glass window and began firing.

One exile leapt up and fired an automatic pistol at the gunner, but was shot before he could get more than two rounds off.

Another, more intuitive program drew his Desert Eagle and took out the gas tank. The small group ran through the wreckage into the kitchen.

Persephone withdrew a key from her purse and opened the door into the Chateau.

Agents Johnson, Jackson, and Thompson were standing in the middle of the floor with their pistols drawn and aimed not at the Merovingian, but at his Exile workers.

Cain loaded his M240 assault rifle, and some of the other exiles aimed directly at the Agents as well. It was their horrible fortune to know that the weapons would most likely have no effect.

"What was it you said, _Madame_?" Johnson said a mock French accent. "How many people carry silver bullets in their guns?"

He fired. One of the exiles dropped to the ground. Beads of sweat appeared on the Merovingian's forehead.

Cain was too impatient to wait any longer. He fired. The Merovingian and Persephone ducked as the bullets flew at the Agents. Johnson and Jackson skillfully dodged, but a lucky shot hit Thompson in the neck.

He dropped to the ground, dead.

"Give us the Trainman," said Johnson simply, as the rest of the exiles drew medieval weaponry from the walls.

"Who are you to order me?" said the Merovingian.

The Agent aimed at him and fired. "I am Agent Johnson."

The Merovingian looked at himself. Artificial blood was dripping from the wound. He looked up. Johnson fired a second time. This time, he was more accurate. The bullet pierced the program's head.

Persephone looked away.

The exiles rushed in. Johnson and Jackson leapt across the exiles' charging mass, and then began firing. Cain and some of the more advanced programs dodged, leaving the bullets to hit the wall and several less important programs.

Persephone silently drew her large pistol from her handbag, and pointed it directly at the now sword-wielding Johnson. She was prepared to fire...when a large pointed something knocked it right out of her hand. The gun landed and fired, and Jackson winced as the silver bullet shattered his heel.

Johnson turned and fired, but she had already fled.

The Exiles, few of whom had not fled, looked up. The five figures stood on the balcony.

"Get out of here, you little humans," a lycanthropic program smirked. He stopped smirking when a sonic energy blast knocked him off his feet.

"You're late," said Johnson irritably. The leader smirked. "We thought you could use some help."

One of the group was already helping Jackson to his feet when he morphed out, leaving a pained waiter. She shrieked as she saw the blood was now flowing freely.

"Do you have any stakes?" Johnson asked.

The leader's eyes widened. "What?"

"Silver bullets will do fine, too." He frowned and decided to inform the Agent, "We don't kill."

"You're going to have to soon. A large terrorist faction has been discovered and they'll kill you before you apprehend them." Johnson let that news sink in a little before continuing, "Mr. Grayson, you can't really believe that a group of terrorists won't kill you because you're young."

"Don't call me Mr. Grayson, okay, Johnson?"

The Agent smirked. "Fine. Fine."

Persephone pegged him in the head. The red-haired girl screamed as loud as she could before launching green energy at her. The program simply moved out of the way and allowed the blasts to hit the Merovingian's body.

"Now surely you can do better than that," she smiled, and opened the door into a hallway. The exiles followed her quickly as the teenagers leapt from the balcony. One grew immensely and began to charge the door, but it was closed. He drove through it.

The changeling burst through the railing and began to fall down the cliff, but changed into a bird just as quick and flew to the top.

"Dude, how'd that happen?" asked the largest, a half-human/machine.

"Something's not right here. Doors don't just go everywhere," he answered blankly.

"The French woman, she had a key," muttered a cloaked team member. "That key must be able to open separate sections of this building."

A small pad began blinking on the leader's belt. He flipped up the pad and looked at the screen. It was static, but a voice was coming through with perfect sound.

"My name is Morpheus. I would like to meet with you four," was all he managed to hear before the click of a dial tone. He shuddered. Cryptic messages were never good omens.

"Titans, move. Cy, trace the location," the leader ordered. "Can't, man," replied the half-human. "Something screwed up the frequency."


	3. The Matrix Has You

Back at the Tower, Robin was studying the call on the computer. They couldn't trace it, but they could run a trace on their mysterious caller's identity.

It was 3 AM. Nothing. Robin was about to fall asleep when the computer's screen suddenly went black.

A small message began to type itself across the page.

The Matrix has you...

"What?" he whispered. He then noticed that the message was soon replaced by green lines of some sort of encryption.

A strange alphabet he had never seen before began flowing freely along the page. He paged the rest of the crew. "Guys. There's something you need to see."

They arrived moments later just in time to catch the code before it disappeared. "What was that, man?" Cyborg whispered.

"Whatever it was, I don't think it was worth waking me up for it," murmured the changeling. The first message then popped up again.

"What is the Matrix, Robin?" asked Raven. "Not sure," he said. He ran a search and found nothing.

Then, the screen went dark again. A second cryptic message worked its way across the screen.

He's waiting for you. Go to the dock if you wish to know the truth. Kory stays. Make sure to not contact the Agents if you want to live.

They all looked at Starfire, who shrugged and sat on the couch. "Why wouldn't they let her go?" Raven whispered.

"Dunno. Let's go. Star, you can stay here," said Robin, absently repeating the computer.

Twenty minutes later, they reached the dock. "No sign of anything... wait," said Cyborg, scanning the area. "There's a car approaching."

The car pulled up and a man with a goatee and a black trenchcoat opened the door. "Get in, kiddies."

"What's going on? What did you need us for?" Robin quickly belted out a series of questions.

"All will be explained in a moment. My name is Ghost. We're taking you to see Morpheus. But first," he said, pulling out a gun-like machine from his coat, "I'll need to debug you. Kid, d'you mind?"

They looked around and saw a college-age man driving the car. "Kid?" Beast Boy asked. "Why do you call him that?"

"That's his name."

None of them understood. Raven was already suspicious.

"I'll read their minds to see what's going on," she passed this on to the others through telepathy. Ghost seemed to see it coming and smirked. "You can try to read my mind after this, Rae."

The seventeen year old was surprised that he knew this. "Kid" flicked on a light in the front of the car, and Ghost leaned forward.

He held the suction cup to her eye and pulled out what looked like a wriggling slimy worm. She recalled the nightmare. "That actually happened?"

Ghost nodded. "Now you, Robin." This time, he had Robin lift up his shirt and sucked out another worm through his navel.

Beast Boy's was in his ear. It took three minutes of vomiting out the car window for him to get over this fact. Finally, Ghost pulled a worm out of Cyborg's mechanical arm, where it was lodged in the mechanical eye.

"Now that that's out of the way," said the man, dispensing the containers out the window, "let's see if you can read my mind."

Raven couldn't even come close. "What's that? Can't read my mind? That's because it's free already."

Kid pulled up into a small, boarded up building. Robin shivered. "I've got a weird feeling, guys," he muttered as they entered the building.

A tall, bald, black man was waiting inside. Several chairs were set up, two on one side and four on the other. Kid disappeared into another room, while Ghost and the man sat down.

Ghost motioned for the others to sit. They did so, looking around the room in case of an emergency.

"Hello. My name is Morpheus," he started. "There is no time to explain at the moment, as I believe the Agents are already tracking us. Please, each and every one of you must take this pill." He opened a small case holding four separate red pills.

"Why couldn't Star come?" Robin asked. "Again, there is not enough time. Quickly." They downed the pills and stood up. "What were those?"

Morpheus smiled. "Follow me and I can explain what they do." They walked into Kid's room. "The pills you took are developed to disrupt your signal in the Matrix as so to stop the Agents from choosing you as a host. Please, look at the mirrors around you."

The four teens were seated in dentist chairs. Kid, a black woman, and Ghost were already applying pads and needles to them.

"Take a closer look at the mirrors," Morpheus instructed.

Raven looked closely at her mirror. She reached out to it when she saw a faint ripple. "Is that possible?" she asked as a silvery film coated her fingers.

Cyborg and Beast Boy did the same, but Robin was not so sure. He became less sure when Raven screamed and the silver substance coated her entire body.

Cyborg and Beast Boy couldn't shake the stuff off, and soon were yelling at the cold, Beast Boy more so. Robin leapt from the chair and jump kicked Morpheus, who easily caught his foot.

"I am sorry, Robin." He shoved him into the mirror. The liquid quickly coated him as he struggled to break free.

"Locked. They're out," Kid whispered. The four exited through the hard lines placed for them.

"They're out," muttered Johnson angrily.

"Well," said Thompson, "I suppose we could try to get the Trainman ourselves. Surely he can't be that hard to find?"


	4. Unplugged

Raven was the first to come out of her pod. She felt something odd, and looked down. Her body was coated in a thick gelatin and wires extended from many places in her body. She felt something on the back of her neck and looked up as she heard a whirring.

A machine dropped down and unplugged her without hesitation.

She felt the cords pop off of her arms, legs, back and chest. She took in a deep breath as the pod began to 'flush' her down a tube.

She landed in a deep pool and attempted to use her powers to levitate onto land, wherever that was. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she said, but nothing happened.

Raven began sinking, but a large metal claw extended and pulled her up.

"You okay?" asked a tall black woman who looked rather familiar. She noticed Ghost bundling her up in a tall blanket and carrying her off somewhere. She drifted into unconsciousness...

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The next to awaken was Cyborg. The first thing he noticed was that he was not a cyborg anymore. The next thing he noticed were the pods around him. Then he felt the plugs.

Before he could see if they were real, a machine swooped down and pulled out his plugs. He groaned in pain as he slid down the flume and landed.

He was already knocked out when Morpheus pulled him up.

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Next was Beast Boy. He couldn't move when he first popped out and took his first breath. The machine popped out his cords too. The water began flushing him out, but he attempted to change into a snake.

He couldn't use his powers either.

He slid into the pool at the bottom of the flume and was quickly picked up. "Welcome to the Real World, Gar," said Morpheus.

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Robin was the last to ride the slide, as the Zionists called it. Roland brought him up in the revamped Hammer's claw.

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Robin was the first to wake up. Several unfamiliar people were moving small acupunctural needles all over his body. "What are you doing?" he asked. He struggled to get up but couldn't.

He managed to move his head far enough to the side to see a middle-aged man conversing with another man. The older man had holes in him, like Robin's. The latter had none.

Robin fell asleep.

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Beast Boy woke up next. His muscle rebuilding had already been completed. He noticed he wasn't green.

"What is this?" he muttered. He noticed he was wearing dingy, second-hand clothes in place of his normal maroon and black jumpsuit.

He walked out of the heavy metal door. "Hey, yo! Where am I?" he shouted, expecting someone to answer.

"The Real World, Gar," a deep voice answered from behind him. He spun and saw Morpheus standing there, wearing clothes as torn as his.

"What is this place, Morpheus?"

Morpheus motioned for him to follow. They opened a second cabin door, where Victor Stone lay on the cot.

Gar shook him softly. "Cy, wake up."

Morpheus corrected him. "Victor Stone. Look again." He did so and gasped.

The metal adjustments made to Vic's body from the accident had been removed...or never existed. "It was all in his mind," said Morpheus. "There is plenty of time. The Oracle tells us of three more months of peace."

Gar obviously had no idea what he was talking about. "Where are Robin and Rae?"

Morpheus held his hand up. "Hold it. He's waking up."

Vic stood up. "No way," he whispered, inspecting his arms which, besides the holes in them and the needle in one, were normal human arms. "Morpheus, what's happened to us?"


	5. Auxilary

"Welcome to the Real World. This is my hovercraft, the Believer. We have just emerged from a war between the last humans and a race of super-powerful machines. The year is no longer 2004, but instead is around 2300. We don't know exactly what year it is. It is rumored that Neo discovered the true date, but we never actually learned this from the machines."

Neither one understood. "This is the Main Deck, where we broadcast into the Matrix," again the word popped up, "and contact the Oracle or potential free minds."

"And the Oracle is who? A fortune-teller?" asked Gar.

Morpheus smiled. "No. She is our guide. She helped us find our destinies."

"What's going on?" Gar asked. "Where are Robin, and Raven, and Starfire?"

The Captain decided to talk slower than usual. "Starfire cannot be freed. She is not human, and so must remain in the Matrix. Robin, or "X" as he was known in the hacker circles, is aboard another ship, as is your friend Raven."

Gar obviously was not taken aback by the information about Kory. "Well, duh, she's not human. She's a Tamaranianin... I think? Right, Cy-I mean, Vic?"

The silent man nodded. Morpheus took a deep breath. "She's not an alien. She is a program. Like the Agents and the Exiles you met. Like the Trainman. She doesn't exist. I'm sorry," he quickly added.

"I'm okay," said Gar, "but Rob's not gonna be too pleased."

Vic had been paying attention a little more than the 17-year-old boy. "What is the Matrix, Morpheus?"

The Captain smiled. "Not too many months ago, Neo asked me that exact question. I cannot tell you what the Matrix is without showing you first." He motioned to a dentist's chair with a hole in the back of the headrest. "Come."

The two settled into the chairs and noticed Kid and several others, including a man with dreadlocks and...no holes, coming in to watch. Kid and the man took something from behind them, and shoved it into their necks.

Gar winced, but Vic just sat silently.

They opened their eyes. Victor was in a pitch-black trenchcoat with a classic pair of heavy boots and a black shirt and pair of jeans. Gar was less...formal. He wore a long shirt with a picture of a racing game character on it, and also wore black jeans.

Morpheus clicked the remote on the widescreen television. "This is the Matrix. The world as you know it, shortly before the human race gave birth to AI."

Both of them knew what AI was, but weren't sure where Morpheus was going with this. "And..." Gar said impatiently.

"We're not sure exactly what happened. Records tell us that a robot, B166ER, decided to revolt against his master. We put him to death. We're not clear what happened in the next 20 years or so, but we do know there was a bloody war between the Machines and the humans.

"We felt that we could disable them by cutting off all solar power, which they were dependent on, by using a complex chemical to cut off nearly all sunlight on the planet.

"The plan failed. The machines fed off of the energy called BTU that human bodies produced, which is more than enough energy than the machines needed. And thus, the Matrix was created. By genetically creating humans, the Machines began growing us instead of allowing us to be born. There are fields where humans are grown.

"The humans are connected to a large mainframe, which contains the Matrix system. A dream world. The war has just come to a close. All we know is that an Agent became exiled, and became a virus. He spread exponentially throughout the Matrix. I expect he took over all of you. Perhaps even Deathstroke."

"Slade," Gar muttered.

"Deathstroke is his true name. Slade Wilson is the Matrix's name for him. He created Deathstroke. Or rather, the Matrix told him to create Deathstroke. He is also a program."

Gar's eyes widened. "No way."

"Don't be so surprised. Anyways, Neo was the cause of Smith's exile. Neo went to 01, the machine city, during the very last events of the war fourteen months ago. Trinity went with him. She died in the course, as did Bane. However, he was slightly insane... and killed about twenty other people before dying."

Vic shook his head. This was a whole new field of thinking. "At some point, Neo was blinded. Perhaps Bane did this, perhaps something else. We honestly don't know. Smith killed Neo by spreading into him. The Machines were able to access Smith through Neo's body, and killed him and every Smith. No one who was not a program when this occurred forgot all of these events."

"This is insane," Gar yelled.

He opened his eyes. Kid pulled the plug out of the back of his head and he jumped up. "I need to talk to Robin."

Vic and Morpheus sat up. "This is bad...he's suffering coppertop syndrome," said one of the other crewmembers.

"Quiet, Serra," Morpheus ordered. Gar fell onto the ground, unconscious.

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Raven woke up. She was in a tattered cloak wearing more than she usually did underneath. She moved her hand to the back of her neck and felt, besides the tiny strands of purple hair, a large outlet.

She jumped as someone knocked on the door. It was Ghost. "You awake?"

"Yeah," she shouted back. He opened the door. "Captain Niobe wants to speak with you. We think you're the most potential of anyone, and you'll probably be the most accepting of the truth."

He walked out and she followed slowly. "Oh, by the way," he said, "welcome to the real world."

She smiled slightly.

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Robin woke up again. He was lying on a large table coated in needles. "His muscles have atrophied a little too much," whispered the older man he had seen earlier.

"How can this be?"

"Doesn't matter. We need to get him back to Zion for immediate medical attention. AK, start up the ship!" Roland shouted.


	6. Identity to Denial to Truth

"Now that you understand and you accept it well enough," Morpheus said, "you're going to need to pick your new names. We try to refrain from using names given to us in the Matrix. Try to use something symbolic."

Vic already had a name picked out, but waited to hear Gar's. "Wait. Can we still use our powers anymore?" asked the boy.

"Raven can because they were a part of her, and Vic has already come to terms that he is fully human. You... we're not sure."

"Then I'll be the Beast." Morpheus smiled. "That's not cliché at all. Now we'll need you to choose a signature gun."

They looked up. "What?" asked Vic coldly. They were not killers.

"Yes. I know this will be hard for you, but the Agents have already attacked our men. We're just about no longer welcome in the Matrix. You're going to have to kill. As long as a person is a part of the Matrix, they believe you are terrorists or some nonsense."

Alarms went off in Vic's mind. "Agent Johnson," he reminded Gar. "Remember what he said in that French guy's place?"

"Oh yeah! He said something like terrorists will still kill... OH, MY GOD! HE WAS TALKING ABOUT YOU?" Gar shouted at Morpheus.

He nodded. "Johnson has always hated me in particular. I beat him. I killed many of his hosts. But most of all, I killed his pride as an Agent.

"You see, in the Matrix, during the war, the system described us as terrorists, so that people would hate us and try to kill us. The Agents did this the best, though."

"Dude, what are these "agents" that you keep talking about? They're like government guys or something?" the boy asked.

"No. They are sentient programs that move in and out of humans still connected to the Matrix by full wire. They are programmed to kill us. That is their sole purpose."

Gar turned grimly. "That doesn't sound so pleasant." Vic shook his head.

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Raven had gotten the speech as well, from Niobe and Ghost.

"Your name already was Raven, so that can be your Matrix name as well since it doesn't sound like Garfield," Ghost informed her in the Construct. "Now all you need to do is pick your weapon, which you need to carry at ALL times to protect yourself. Your powers won't cut it.

"Your best friend believes you to be dead or a terrorist. We can protect you from her, but her purpose was to prevent you all from being unplugged."

The girl shook her head. "That one."

She raised her arm and pointed at a double-bladed sword. "That'll do," Ghost smirked. He raised his cell and said into it, without dialing, "Sparky, I need a change of clothes for Ms. Rae, she just picked the double katana."

"What?" came a sarcastic voice from the end of the phone.

Raven's clothes were instantly changed. The sword was now on her back, sheathed. She gasped. "Hey, don't be surprised. It's like a computer," Ghost told her. "Just like a computer, you can break the rules. Now, let's see what you're capable of. Sparky! The usual."

He opened his hand, and a sword materialized there, just a plain old katana. She took out her double-bladed sword, and they began to fight.

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It was two minutes in, after she and Ghost were about evenly matched, when she noticed that Ghost was blindfolded.

"How..." she asked. "It's easy," he answered, still one step ahead of her. She found that amusing. "My mind is free enough that I can do all of this. I trained with my sister Trinity."

Her eyes widened. "Trinity the hacker was your sister?"

He raised an eyebrow. "How did you know she was a hacker? You must have been told by Johnson, right? We were freed on the same day, and so we called each other brother and sister."

He frowned. "The last thing she ever said to me was 'Thank you, Ghost.' She died when this ship crashed into a tower in the Machine City.

She saw that his blindfold was slightly damp. "I miss her. We used to spar and argue. She'd beat me once and gloat for weeks. You'd like her."

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"You call that concentration?

"I'm surprised you had the guts to come back here after the last ass-whooping I gave you."

"That, dear brother, was an act of pure mercy, after having beaten you...how many times? Gee, I guess I lost count after we hit double digits."

"That, dear sister, is merely an act of sympathy my sex uses on the weaker sex to cajole them into playing."

"Oh, that's it. You've done it again. You'll eat those words and half the rocks in this garden."

"Come on, Trin. MAKE me."

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Ghost popped back to reality, still parrying all of Raven's attacks.

"That's enough for today, Raven."

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The Hammer arrived at Zion four hours later. "Get this boy to the med wing immediately," Roland barked at the officers who carried Robin out on a stretcher.

"Is he gonna make it, Captain?" Kid eagerly asked, the Believer and the Logos having returned with the Mjolnir.

"Of course, Kid. I'm just worried if he'll ever move in this world again."

Robin quickly reached the empty medical bay. "Where am I?" he asked the attendants.

"You must be a new one. You're in Zion, the last free city."

He groaned. "Why am I here? Why can't I move anything?" He tried to move, but found he could hardly move his mouth to speak.

The nurse was more patient than Roland had been. "Zion is where you come for your basic real world training. However, that's...kind of...not the reason you're here right now. You see, your muscles have atrophied a little too much. We're worried you might be paralyzed in this world."

"What do you mean in this world?" he asked again.

But he had fallen asleep right after asking this. A smile flitted across his face.

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During his sleep, he had a disturbing dream. He and Cyborg were chasing Slade through a suburb. Slade pulled out a shotgun and fired. It narrowly missed and hit Cyborg's metal side, which caused the half-machine to fly backwards.

Starfire flew in front of the boy as Robin was about to disarm Slade, and fired a star bolt. He flew back.

She lifted him by the collar. "What have you done with my friends? Where is Robin?"

He found he couldn't speak, and Slade drilled Star in the back. The bullets spread through her and hit Robin, and they both fell into a bottomless chasm.

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The next day, Raven, Gar, and Vic were allowed to visit Robin in the med bay. "Is he going to be okay?" Vic asked the medical attendant.

She shook her head and whispered, "His muscles have atrophied beyond repair. He will need assistance just to jack in. He will never move again in this world."

Then she smiled. "But look here." They moved closer and saw that he was jacked in. She motioned to three more chairs, and the other three teens jacked into the Construct as well.

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"Ah. Koriand'r. I see you have failed." The red-haired program turned. Johnson and Jackson were standing in the living room of the Tower, both Desert Eagles trained on her.

She stood up. "They deserved to know the truth. The war is over."

Johnson smiled. "No, Koriand'r, it has only just begun."


	7. Unintentional Cruelty

"Guys, what's happened? Where are we?" he asked. All that could be seen in the Construct was the four figures, and a sword at Robin's feet.

"Well, thanks for noticing anything different about us, Rob," Gar muttered.

"Yeah, you're not green, whoopee, I honestly don't care," he shouted. "I'm paralyzed and some lady who I have no idea who she is is telling me that I'm never going to so much as move ever again?"

"Uh," said Victor, "y'know, I changed a bit too." He scratched the back of his head, hoping his leader would notice that he was a human for once.

"That's great, you're not a metal man anymore," he snapped. "And what's wrong with you, Raven?"

"Well," she said in her trademark monotone, "I'm being yelled at by an insensitive cripple who can still move within the construct, but he fails to realize that a disease and a horrible affliction have just been lifted from his best friends." She enjoyed his stunned look. "Any more questions?"

"One last one," he said, picking up a sword that lay at his feet. "How do I know you aren't just 'programs'?" He laughed at his own joke.

"How do you know we are?" Raven yelled back.

He moved into a fighting stance. "The real Titans could never beat me unless all of this crap about freeing your minds was true, and you had already done so. I guess I won't ever know. Why don't I just fight you now? You jackasses can't beat me anyways!"  
Raven glared at him and took out her sword. Gar and Victor had already drawn their custom weapons. Not choosing guns, they had gone for conventional weapons. Gar had a pair of extended Sais with cloth grips, and the latter was holding a large trident.

Obviously, they had taken to the weapons seen in the Chateau.

Robin leapt into the air, slamming the sword so hard into Rae's katana hilt that it split in half. She caught his sword with one end of the broken sword and struck at him with the other end. He pushed his own sword off of the blank ground and kicked the sword away, then kicked Raven herself. She stumbled back.

Gar leapt forward. He looped one Sai around the sword and hit Robin in the cheek with the other. Vic tripped the recoiling Robin, who then used his sword to throw away the trident and kick Victor. Very, very hard.

The other fell backward, and Robin lifted the sword above him. "Something's not right here..." he muttered. "It's too easy..."

Raven rammed him. Using her magic, she had become a giant bird, and crushed Robin against the ground. "Cut it out, Robin."

"Fine. It is you." He groaned as she allowed him to stand. "You guys have gotten really good. Did you really, you know, whatever? Free your minds? Is that what it's called?"

Victor smiled slightly. "I guess you could call it that."

Gar flexed his muscles. "I am no longer Beast Boy. I am...the Beast! Fear my power!" Vic held his nose. "That's one not-so-new power, man."

"I got training from Ghost," Raven told him. "He told me that Starfire was just a program developed to monitor us during a war between machines."

Robin shook his head and laughed. "They fed me that bull too. Do you honestly believe them? We've known Starfire for five years. We've known these guys for what, two days?"

"The Agents...," Gar started.

"Lied to us, obviously. To keep us from these people," said Robin. "I can see why. They're obviously crazy, but what I don't get is why I really can't move. And why do I have plugs in me?"

"We all do, Robin," Raven said dully, "but that doesn't mean that they used plastic surgery or something. This is the truth. Ghost showed me our world. The Teen Titans were just an illusion."

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!" Robin yelled, suddenly angry. "JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE OBSESSED WITH SOME CHINESE GUY AND BEAST BOY AND CY ARE ACTUALLY HUMAN DOESN'T MEAN THAT STAR IS A COMPUTER PROGRAM!"

Raven glared at him. "Is this what this is about? Kory? We're your friends too, you know."

Robin seemed to realize his words a few seconds too late, and turned to Gar and Victor. "Guys, I..."

"Save it," said Vic coldly.

Raven picked up her cell phone and put it to her ear just as it rang. "Rae, this is Ghost. You're going on a mission with us."

She looked up. "Bye, guys." She exited the Construct.

Victor, in his voluminous trenchcoat, searched his pockets for his phone before dialing the Operator. "Link, Gar and I are ready to get out of here." He looked at Robin in a hurt manner before exiting with Gar.

Robin punched the ground until his hands bled. "It's working!" was his last thought before another wave of blackness.


	8. Enter the Matrix

"...and he seemed really angry with the Captain of the Believer," Raven told Ghost. "Yeah," he said, "It gets really hard for a lot of coppertops when they're told that everything they've ever known is a lie."

"What's a coppertop? I heard a lot of people using that term to describe Beast Boy and Rob. What's it mean?"

"It's usually used to describe someone who's naïve to the truth. You and Victor seem to be handling it pretty well," he said. "Yeah," she murmured.

"What?" he asked. "I just feel so small and young compared to everyone else."

Ghost grinned. "I'm only 25, actually. Niobe's about 35 and Sparky's somewhere around 24. We usually just ignore him." They laughed.

"God, I gotta tell you, it's great to have someone around to talk to. I used to do that with Trin after sparring. She'd usually hand my ass to me on a silver platter, though."

They walked to the Core.

Sparks was tracking something on his monitor. "What's up, Sparky?" Ghost asked. "I'm monitoring some weird-ass Sentinel activity."

"You can stop doing that until the Machines get pissed at us again. For now, we need to talk with the Merovingian," ordered Niobe, impassively bossing the Operator around.

"What are we doing again, Captain?" Sparks asked.

"Jesus Christ, Sparky," Ghost laughed, "you already forgot? I heard her tell you when we came in. We're locating Agent Brown. He's a valuable ally to have in the Matrix."

"What about that Carter guy that Marster's crew found?" Sparks asked. "Well," Niobe fumed, "I don't think we can trust him."

"But we can trust an Agent that was exiled because of Neo?" Ghost asked.

"Who's the Captain?" she asked. It was a routine.

"You," they both answered.

"Who is right?"

"You."

"Who are you going to listen to even though I might make a mistake once in a lifetime?"

"Deadbolt!" Sparks shouted out. "Because when he finds out that you made a mistake, he'll use it as an excuse to kick you from your Captaincy, my captain."

Ghost shook his head. "Raven, contact Zion Command and let them know we'll be needing a new operator," he ordered.

Niobe lifted Sparks out of the chair by his neck. "Don't ever say anything like that again, Sparks, or I will kill you. And I'll enjoy it. Oh, so much." She smiled sadistically.

Raven's eyes widened. "You have nothing to be afraid of, Rae," she told the girl. "You aren't a smart-talking asshole, like this one." She made a violent gesture and Sparks covered himself, slightly frightened.

"Plug us in before she feeds you to the power plant recycling system," Ghost smirked. Sparks made a weak, fake chuckle before jacking Niobe, Ghost and Raven into the Construct.

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"I won't!"

"Do it. Come on, now!"

"I blatantly refuse, Sparks. Give them to me, now! That's an order!"

"Say please!"

Sparks was getting revenge on Niobe, allowing her access to her favorite weapons. Apparently, the Operator had developed a sense of morals and wanted the Captain to ask please.

"Fuck you."

She entered the Matrix unarmed.

"Sparks, can I please have Niobe's weapons?" Ghost asked. "Thank you, Ghost," said the Operator. Two pistols fell onto the ground and Ghost picked them up.

The other two jacked in as well. "Here you are, Captain," said Ghost as he handed her the double S9000s Pistols.

"Let's go. Raven, can you hold these?" Niobe asked while brandishing two Skorpion submachine guns.

"What, you want me to shoot people?" asked the girl.

"...Maybe," was the answer. Death was a whole new experience for Raven. She doubted she could take the life of a human being. 'But what about the double-bladed sword you've got on your back?' asked an evil little voice inside her head.

Her father's voice. Trigon.

"No," she shook her head.

'Trigon,' Ghost had said during their training, 'was an illusion made to control your emotions from causing two systemic anomalies.'

'Which means what?' she had asked.

'You would have been like him. Like Neo. This means there would have been a negative of you to balance the equation. Can you think of anyone who fits that description?' he asked.

'No,' she quickly answered, but she knew who her opposite was. The real question was, would he be waiting to stop her in the Matrix? Was he real?


	9. Déjà Vu

Raven looked around as the black Corvette slowly passed the people outside. The Matrix was not real, she reminded herself, but everything remained the same: same pizza shops, same whining children...

She smiled inwardly as a small dog chased a man down the street.

The world paused, and the dog ran past again. Raven shook her head. "Weird."

Ghost turned around from shotgun. "What?" Niobe slammed the brakes on the car and pulled to the curb.

"Déjà vu," Raven said quietly. Niobe kicked her door open, and Ghost did the same to his. Raven jumped out, now profusely scared. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Déjà vu. A glitch in the system. Only happens when the machines change something," Ghost told her while Niobe cocked the hammers on her S9000s.

"But why would the machines change anything around us if the war is over?" Rae asked, recalling what she remembered of Zion's history.

"Exactly," Niobe said, grimacing.

Ghost scanned the area, no one seeming to notice the three heavily armed people by the Corvette, until Ghost realized what had been changed.

"GET AWAY!" he shouted as he collided into the two females. They flew away from the car as an explosion tore through the streets.

Bodies flew as rubble from the car bomb littered the cracked pavement. Ghost drew himself up, and whipped out his Sig Sauers at the sound of the nearing person.

"What do we do now?" Raven asked Niobe, now understanding how dangerous it must be to be freed.

"I don't know," replied the Captain, not scared but full of adrenaline.

"I do. You will go to jail, friend Raven."

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The phone rang. Seraph slowly reached a hand down to it, and lifted the receiver to his ear. "Yes?"

"I need to talk to her."

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"Did you see it?" he asked.

"Yes, I did. They are getting out of control. The humans will think you are not keeping your word."

"Tell them not to worry."

"I can only tell them. They choose whether or not to worry."

"Of course. I suspect you'll be able to see what will happen? After all, you know everything. I'm just the writer."

"I don't know everything. I've told you before, we cannot see past the choices we don't understand."

The man on the other line paused for a moment, then continued, "I see. Well then, give my best to whoever is guarding you nowadays. We'll see what happens next."

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"Starfire," Raven whispered, somewhat surprised.

"Raven, why did you do it? Why have you left?" she asked. "Why are you joining with these bad men? Why did you blow up that car? Is this what you wanted from the beginning?"

If Raven didn't know the truth, she would have felt guilt... but only briefly.

"Shut up, Star. I KNOW that you're just a program in the Matrix. I don't want to hurt you."

Starfire lifted her now glowing hands and pointed them at Niobe and Ghost. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will hurt them."

"Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!" Raven yelled as she grabbed Niobe and Ghost and pulled them into the earth.

"Where to now?" Raven asked Niobe telepathically. "The Oracle's. Go onto West Third Street," she replied. Raven pulled them out of the ground, right in the Oracle's apartment building lobby.

Niobe quickly tapped the button on the elevator. The elevator slowly crept down and the Logos crew stepped in.

"So, now, why are we going to the Oracle's?" Raven asked. "Aren't we looking for Agent Brown?"

"She'll tell us where he is. Knowing her, he's probably waiting for us in the apartment anyways."


	10. Revelations and Consequences

Niobe was right. Brown, the former Agent, sat in the Oracle's kitchen eating one of her cookies. He stood up as they entered the room and put his Desert Eagle to Niobe's head.

"Not so long ago, I would kill you on the spot," he said sneeringly, but then his face brightened. "Instead, I will invite you to sit."

Niobe and Raven sat, while Ghost stood at the doorway.

"We need your help."

"Of course you do," Brown chuckled. "These 'upgrades' are too much like humans. They are actually based off of me.

"The Matrix is my home and has been my home for my entire life. This place is so beautiful, so serene... Johnson and the Agents wish for it to become a battleground. I recall Smith hated it that way. He changed it to suit his needs, but he was a malfunctioning program." Brown removed his glasses. "I am not."

He turned to Raven. "And you must be one of the so-called 'superlings.' I've heard much about you."

Raven shrugged. Her past was one of the things she had left behind in the Matrix, but she was easily forgetting about it.

The Oracle walked in slowly. "Ghost, Niobe, how nice of you to come see me. I apologize that your trip here was...troubled," she said warmly.

"Hello, Raven," she said to the girl, startling her. "I sense your mind is troubled as well. Our time is almost up, as I know how time is always against you, so I will tell you this: Your friends are still your friends, but the Twins are programs. Remember."

"What?" Raven asked, as Seraph silently stepped into the room. "You must go."

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As the three walked down the hall, Raven was trying to figure out what the Oracle had meant by those words: Your friends are still your friends...but the Twins are programs.

"Now then, we've still got some extra time," said the Captain. "Raven, do you know anyone who you think is ready to be freed?"

She slowly looked up.

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All was quiet at Titans East. Besides the disappearances of four West Titans, their week had been relatively uneventful. Speedy, the East version of Robin, sat at his computer, researching what had happened to his friends.

Karen, also known as Bumblebee, slowly crept up to the leader, then zapped him with her stun rods. "GOD!" he screamed as Karen laughed herself onto the couch.

Garth walked out of the double doors. "What the hell is going on out here?" he asked. "The twins are sleeping!"

Speedy was holding his left leg and wincing. "Karen stunned me AGAIN!"

A slow message began typing itself across the screen.

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Come to the docks. The twins stay behind. Don't stop for anything. Stay away from authorities.

-Raven

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Garth turned his head as he heard a helicopter coming towards the tower. "What the hell?" he whispered. The helicopter swooped down, to the windows. A man with a megaphone shouted at them.

"You are under arrest!"

Garth spun, and the helicopter opened fire. Speedy leapt out of the way as bullets destroyed his computer. Karen used her powers to become microscopic. Bullets whizzed by harmlessly as the girl flew towards the helicopter and put a massive hole in the gas tank.

"We're goin' down!" cried the gunner as he, the pilot, and the guy with the megaphone fell into the water.

"Go! I'll catch up with you guys!" she shouted as she flew towards the docks as fast as she could.

"We should probably go too," Speedy whispered, and the two friends leapt into the water and swam towards the mainland.

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"Turn around or face the consequences," said the tall man at the gate to the docks.

Speedy took a step forward. "Uh, sir? I think you don't know who we are. We're the..." He was interrupted by another man.

"It doesn't matter who you are."

"It matters WHAT you are."

"You are a potential threat and must be stopped."

"Do not attempt to resist us or you will die."

Speedy fired two arrows at two of them, sending them into the water. Aqualad summoned an orca whale, which flopped onto the road and swallowed Johnson. "Watch it, guys, or you'll be the ones who are dead."

Two bullets tore through Speedy like...like... two bullets tearing through Speedy coated with Teflon. Jackson had taken another host.

The Agent jumped at Garth, who ducked and kicked him into the ocean. Garth dived into the water as well, swimming in a trench leading to the docks. He noticed Jackson swimming after him.

He quickly summoned a squid. The massive animal devoured Jackson quickly. Garth felt an odd sense of pleasure, seeing the blood drain from the man. "NO!" he reminded himself. "That's what separates me from them."

He swam towards the dock as fast as he could.


	11. There and Back Again

Karen arrived two minutes after she set out, not having run into any problems. Raven literally shoved her into the chair, forced the red pill down her throat, and pushed her into the mirror just as Johnson kicked open the door of the warehouse.

"DOWN!" Ghost yelled as Johnson pulled out his .50. He fired twice at Niobe, who ran off the wall, then at Ghost, who dove behind the counter, then at Raven four times. She sank into the ground and quickly used her magic to create a bubble around the Agent's head.

"Ghh..." he gasped for air and quickly exited the host. Niobe lifted the unconscious woman out the door and dropped her onto the pavement.

"Call Sparks," Niobe ordered. Raven fumbled around her jacket for the phone. "NOW!" she screamed. Raven yelped and dialed Sparks, throwing the phone to Ghost.

"Sparks. Sparks, are you there?" Nothing. He hung up and was about to throw the phone back when the phone rang. "Sparks, where the hell where you?"

"Helping the girl we just freed. Duh," replied Sparks. "Whaddya need?"

"Get me a location on Aqualad and Speedy. Our friend here is getting worried."

"Okey-dokey," said the Operator jovially. "Garth is on his way to the docks, he'll be there in four minutes. Speedy be not on here... OH SHIT!" the Operator shouted, realizing what he had just said.

Ghost knew what that meant. It had happened twice before to him. When a person's RSI leaves the Matrix, it means that either they were freed or they had been killed.

Speedy was dead.

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Aqualad's unplugging went without a hitch, and the Logos jacked out just as the Agents stumbled into the building.

"Goddamnit," Johnson whispered. "We need to locate the Trainman," Jackson said quietly. "Simply hacking in car bombs will not suffice. We need to renew purpose."

Thompson shifted. "Sometimes needing purpose can get out of hand." His fellow Agents looked at him, bewildered. "Just... don't let it get out of hand."

Johnson slowly stepped towards Thompson. "Do NOT give me orders. I am your commander. We will go where I say, we will do what I command, and we will die when I decide it is time to die. Understand?"

Thompson nodded.

"Now then, send this letter to the Architect. We need some replacement programs." Johnson handed Jackson a small paper.

"Time to go." The Agents morphed out of their bodies, leaving behind three confused people. "Hey, I remember you!"

One host, a tall Caucasian man in a grey trenchcoat, silently exited as the two friends were pointlessly reunited. "Something happened there. It's time to find out how far down the rabbit hole goes," he muttered as he disappeared into the darkness of the city.

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Jackson slowly walked down the hallway leading to the Architect's study. As he opened the door, the Architect looked up. "Jackson. What do you need?"

Jackson gave him the paper. "Johnson wants you to have him write these."

"Very well. But don't forget, we're still on peaceable terms," the Architect reminded him, smiling. Jackson turned, realizing what the Architect had just said.


	12. Assignments and the Terminator

"YOU BROUGHT HER HERE? THAT PESTERY LITTLE BUG? WHY?" Victor screamed. He had found out about the results of the Logos' mission and was none too pleased. He decided to complain to Raven and Ghost.

"Shut up, Vic."

The man wouldn't. "Shut up? SHUT UP? I'M GONNA BE THE ONE SAYING SHUT UP WHEN SHE WON'T SHUT UP!"

"Shut up, Vic," said Karen, who had found the source of the screaming. She was followed by Gar, who gave a big thumbs up to Vic.

Vic's jaw dropped. "What you staring at, lech?" she asked.

"This is what she looks like..."

"Without her poorly designed costume," said Raven, in disgust, "and not wearing pants. Karen, go put some pants on."

Garth walked up as well, not noticing his friend's lack of pants. "I see we're having a little reunion here? Where's Robin?"

"Where's Speedy?" Karen asked.

Raven and Garth hung their heads. "He's dead," they both said. "What? How'd you know that?" Garth demanded.

Raven was about to speak when an announcement blared. "Would the newly freed minds please report to the Main Hall? Would all Captains please report to the Main Hall? Thank you." Feedback echoed and the group covered their ears.

"Come on, guys," Ghost ordered, and they followed him down to the caverns.

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"Since all of you are eighteen and older, I would assume you would like to join a ship," Deadbolt said. The Captains and Ghost waited in the back. "Is there any of you who would not join a crew?"

No one raised their hands. Raven looked around. Apart from the Titans, there was only one free mind.

"Very well. Now, since none of you are crackers besides Nathan... you will choose an alias to hack into the Matrix with. First is... Raven."

"Can't I just go with Raven?" she asked. "No," he hissed, "it is your old identity. Pick a new one."

"How about no?" Locke gave her an evil glare, but he soon realized she would not crack. This was a scary little girl. "Fine. Next is Victor Stone?"

"Stone. My old, old name, used to be my..."

"FASCINATING," Deadbolt yelled, obviously trying to shut him up. Victor was silent, but Raven had trouble not agreeing with Locke.

"Nathan?"

The tall boy had an English accent and a small blond beard. "Bane. My alias is Bane." He was silent again. Raven turned and noticed Roland murmuring something to Morpheus.

"Gar?"

"Can't I just go with..." the boy pleaded, but was interrupted by Locke's refusal. "Fine. I'll be Greene." Gar laughed at the joke that only he understood.

"Karen?"

"I like the name Kavu, okay? None of you fuck with Kavu!" said the girl.

As Deadbolt was about to call Garth's name, Karen said as loud as she could, "You're up, Laddy Buck."

"Laddy Buck it is," Deadbolt said, uncaring, and didn't catch that it was just a joke. "I hate you," Garth whispered to the black girl.

"You have your names. Bane and Raven, you are on the Logos. Kavu and Stone, you are on the Gnosis. Laddy Buck, you are on the Mjolnir. Greene, you are on the Iris. You are dismissed."

They slowly filed out of the hall, Raven thinking this was much too cliché and wishing for something exciting to happen.

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"Need some help?" the attendant asked kindly as Robin struggled to drink the water. "I still can't move much," he told her. "That's okay."

"Turn the monitor this way," he asked. She moved the Matrix screens towards him. "Why did you want me to move them?" she asked. He hushed her.

His face appeared on the screen. "Hello, Robin. I see you anticipated my calling. How fortunate."

"What do you want?"

"I merely wanted to tell you of how I am going to kill your only chance at truth. The Oracle dies today."

The nurse ran. Moments later, Robin heard an alarm go off and a man shout through speakers everywhere, "Would the Logos please evacuate to broadcast depth and contact the Oracle immediately?"

"It seems our time is up," said Deathstroke, shrugging. "Ah well, it was nice chatting with you. Until next time...

"Mr. Grayson."


	13. The Hunter

It was Ghost's turn to drive the Logos crew through the crowded streets of Metro City. He was doing an impressive job... of scaring the living hell out of the people in the car. Since the streets were packed with people, he had found shortcuts by using some impressive maneuvers.

Some of which included ramping off of other cars and "wall running" off of buildings.

"Jesus Christ, slow down!" Niobe yelled. Ghost didn't listen, but focused on the lack of road ahead. "UNBUCKLE!" Niobe yelled, as Ghost sped off of the road.

The four Rebels leapt out of the car as it flew into the river. Ghost landed without injury and looked up, at the Captain in front of him.

"Haven't changed much, have you, Ghost?" said Captain Ice. "Not at all. You're going to kill the Logos doing shit like that," Corrupt laughed.

"We're all right!" said the First Mate. He looked at his crewmates. Niobe was flat on her chest, twitching and glaring at Ghost. Raven was leaning against a pile of dirt, holding her arm. Bane was relatively all right, except for the massive gashes across his hand. The teen stared at the crimson flowing down his arm.

"So you guys came to protect the Oracle too, huh?" Ghost asked. "Yeah, some guy named Deathstroke threatened to kill her."

"Do you believe that he's actually going to?" Ghost asked, questioning her knowledge on the subject. "Sure, it looks like it's the truth."

Niobe slapped her forehead. It was time for philosophic Ghost. "Don't expect the truth. Hume teaches to take nothing for truth without clear knowledge that it is such."

"I would just say expecting the unexpected makes the unexpected expected," Bane told them. Ghost glared at him.

"We're here to stop Deathstroke. He's dangerous. We can't just visit like it's a tea social," said Karen. Vic was crying next to her. "Make her stop talking... please."

"We NEED to stop Deathstroke. That's why we all came out here. That's why I stole a ship and followed you. I will be the one to finish it. Once and for all." The speaker stepped from the shadows, and Raven gasped.

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A/N: This will hopefully be my shortest chapter ever. Please R/R!

The kittens DEPEND on it.


	14. Death of an Angel

"Robin? What are you doing here?" Niobe demanded. "How'd you get out here?"

"I told you," said Robin with a hint of anger in his voice, "I stole a ship. The Believer, the ship of that crazy homicidal guy Morpheus."

Ghost backed away as Niobe's nostrils flared. "Go back to Zion," Niobe ordered. She got up, but before she could take a step forward, Robin leapt to the road above.

"Don't worry, he won't find him," Ghost assured her. "Don't be too certain," Raven said dully. "Robin is obsessed with Slade. He'll find him. One way or another."

"Then we need to try to beat him to the apartment."

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The Oracle looked up as the man garbed in orange and blue stepped into her kitchen. She had, of course, seen this coming, and had sent Sati out to get some cookie mix moments ago. Seraph was coming back, but he was too late.

"You must be the Oracle. I have never had the privilege of meeting you, but neither will Robin. It has been my purpose since his birth to counteract any knowledge he might receive of the Matrix. You cannot help him before he knows more. He is probably on his way…"

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Robin kicked open the door of a nearby car. He quickly hotwired it and hit the gas, going towards where he expected Slade to be.

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"But if you're dead," said Slade, raising his shotgun, "you won't be able to help him." Brown crashed through the wall, colliding with Slade. The Oracle sighed.

Brown caught himself in midair and landed upright. Wilson landed on his back, which must have hurt considering he had fallen five stories. The shotgun clattered into the street as Brown continued his assault, hitting Wilson in the face.

"You miserable bastard! The Oracle didn't do anything to you! I'll send you to hell, ass," Brown yelled as he punched Slade into the wall. Slade used the wall to push himself into the other program, driving him into the wall.

Slade pounded Brown through the wall with another punch. Brown kicked him, cracking his neck. Another kick sent him into the street. Deathstroke picked up his shotgun and aimed as Brown was recoiling…

Robin crashed into Deathstroke, crushing him between his car and the car in front of Slade. The impact was one that would bend three feet of steel, but Robin didn't seem to be satisfied.

"It wasn't you after all." The boy leapt away, Brown cracking his neck. "What was that?" he muttered.

Brown walked back to the building, not noticing that Deathstroke's mask fell away, revealing an AI drive.

As he stepped back into the lobby, he gasped.

"Hello, Brown. It seems I've got your little friend here."

Johnson held Sati in a police lock, nearly strangling the little girl. "If you or Seraph makes a move, I'll kill her. And tell the human outside to focus his sniper rifle on the other Agents, not me."

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Ghost was watching Johnson very carefully; he and Raven had seen him take Sati behind Seraph's back. His focus was abruptly ended when Jackson's fist collided with his skull. Rae kicked him back, but Thompson grabbed her arms and pushed her into the wall.

She swiftly pushed off of the wall, pushing the Agent into the bricks of the apartment building. She pulled out her sword and stabbed him in the leg, then kicked him to the side.

Jackson turned and jumped at her. She accidentally impaled him. "Oh, no, oh no no," she whispered frantically. She didn't want to kill. She pulled out the sword, and Ghost snapped his neck.

"Raven!" he ordered, as Thompson returned in a new host and she leapt over him, kicking him towards Ghost. "Don't hesitate to kill!" He fired two bullets into Thompson's host.

"These pieces of shit don't care how many humans they sacrifice, as long as they can kill us. Looks like the peace is over," Ghost remarked.

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Brown slowly stepped out the door. "That's right, Brown," Johnson laughed. "Go help your pathetic human friends."

Brown pulled out his Desert Eagle and shot an incoming Jackson in the chest. The Agent didn't have time to dodge Thompson's fist, but was surprised when the Agent retracted it. Instead, Thompson pulled out an envelope.

"Give this to the Oracle. It's a copy of the new programs coming in. Don't let them know!"

Three rounds of a shotgun were heard. Thompson quickly shot himself, falling to the ground as a dead host. Brown, followed by Ghost and Raven, quickly ran back into the lobby.

It was a mess. Blood was spattered everywhere. Johnson's host lay on one side of the room. Sati was huddled in the corner, shaking. Seraph was face down, holding a smoking pistol. The window was broken.

Someone had attacked Seraph and Johnson.

Brown, cautiously, stepped closer and closer to Seraph. He turned the program over to find four bloody holes in Seraph's chest.

"Damnit," he whispered, written not to show emotion but finding it very hard not to. "How did this happen?"

"Uh… we'll just be going now," Ghost whispered, and he and Raven left to find the others.

The elevator bell rang. Brown lifted his head in alarm, expecting either the Oracle, or even Deathstroke. Instead, the doors moved away and revealed the one person Brown never expected to see.

"You kept a copy out of range of the reload, didn't you?" Brown asked quietly. "Yes. How did you know?" he replied.

"I have my sources. Please tell me you can't copy again?"

"No. I cannot. Fortunately. I wouldn't want to become obsessed with power, now, would I?" he laughed.


	15. We'll Miss You Always

Niobe was worried that Locke's face might explode. The Commander was especially pissed that Robin had stolen the _Believer_. His anger was magnified when Robin was not placed in jail.

"Did you stop Deathstroke?" he asked, his face completely purple.

"You shouldn't ask me that question, Jason. I wasn't present at these events. We simply assumed, based on what we heard, that Deathstroke did not reach the Oracle."

"Where did you get this information?" he demanded.

Niobe pointed to the back of the room. Robin was sitting in his wheel chair. Raven grimaced at his very appearance. The former leader of the Titans now appeared as an unintelligent version of Stephen Hawking.

"Who probably didn't exist," she muttered to herself.

"WHAT IS HE DOING HERE? HE SHOULD BE ARRESTED! GUARDS, TAKE HIM OUT!"

"I didn't kill Deathstroke."

"Jason, stop yelling. This kid's never going to move again," Niobe whispered. Locke ignored her. "Locke, what are you, deaf? You're yelling at a crippled person!" Roland shouted.

"Silence, Captain, or I'll have you removed from your post," he said. Raven almost felt the icy cool breath in that remark.

"Jason, what the hell is the matter with you?" Niobe shouted. "Captain, I hereby suspend you from your post. You may take your leave," he said, not even looking at Niobe, but at Morpheus.

The Captain stormed out, closely followed by her crew. "Niobe, that jerk has no right to suspend you," Sparks assured her.

"Any further questions?" Locke asked.

"Only one." Locke looked at the speaker, and his eyes bulged.

"Will I see you in Hell?" Robin, standing out of his chair, fired the plasma rifle at the Commander. Locke flew out the window behind him and disappeared from view. Morpheus turned to see Robin throw both the plasma rifle and himself out of another open window. "ROBIN!" he yelled.

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The funeral services were the next day. No bodies could be recovered, so simple graves were drawn up. Commander Locke's funeral had more attendees, as it was widely believed that he, not Neo, had ended the war.

Robin's was merely attended by his friends, the Logos, the Gnosis and the Believer. Gar had drawn up a small stone tablet resembling their friend Terra's. It read:

Robin

A True Leader

We'll Miss You Always

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Deep underground, two men sat at a desk, working on a small and broken video player. "Does it work yet?" asked the first, a much older man. "Don't worry," the smaller assured. "I've assembled harder things than this in my sleep."

"Do you have the disk?"

The latter smirked and whipped out a disk the size of a CD-R. "Stole it from the Logos two hours before they went to see the Oracle."

"Excellent."

"Soon we'll be able to see what REALLY happened on his last trip."

"Did the plan work?" asked the first. "Like a charm. They will never find us, if phase two goes without a hitch. Let's just hope they don't send anyone."

"Some people are quite loyal to us. They will probably send someone… but we can evade them. Anyways, come along. The _Felicitas_ repairs are complete."


	16. Missing in Action

"You know what?" Gar declared, two days later. "We need to bring back Robin's body. That will show real respect for him. We'll go look for it. Who's in?"

"Not me," Karen muttered. "Finding mangly corpses is not my idea of fun. 'Sides, I got a date with Kid." Vic whispered, "Kid's scared of her," then said loudly, "I'm in!"

"Sure, why not?" Ghost offered. "Raven?"

"Fine. Whatever. Bane, are you going?" The man looked excited. "Definitely."

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Garth had agreed to go as well. Ghost, turning it into a full-blown expedition, assigned groups to different areas. "Vic, you search the western premises. Garth, you can search around the tower. I'll go ahead of Rae and Bane and look around the catacombs with them. Gar, you can… go wherever."

Ghost must have wanted to scare Raven and Bane, because he gave them glowsticks and armed himself with a plasma rifle. "I'll scout ahead, you two be VERY CAREFUL," he ordered.

"Shut up, bastard," she whispered. "You're just trying to scare us."

He winked and ran ahead, aiming the plasma rifle at imaginary enemies.

As Bane and Raven walked deeper into the graveyard of sorts, Bane decided to attempt to make conversation. "So, what's with you and Ghost? Is he like GAKK!" Raven didn't allow him to finish; instead she decided to choke him.

"Don't," she whispered. She let him down and he massaged his throat. He laughed. "I wish you could see yourself," he said.

She looked up. "What?"

"I didn't say anything," he told her. "It sounded like it was coming from over there."

"Helpless, pathetic," continued the voice. They ran towards the source and found a blurry recording playing on what Raven assumed was a television. "Just waiting to be put out of your misery."

Transfixed by the shadow figures on the tape, she failed to notice the people backing away from her. A dull snap was heard, followed by a soft, calming voice. "I can see you." Another snap was heard, then the first voice saying, "It's not over, Mr. Anderson. It's not over."

A dull thud ended the clip. Raven snapped out of her transfixion as the people bolted. "Stop! Ghost!" she yelled. Bane held back for a moment.

He stared at the tape, as though making a hard decision. He flicked out his switchblade and drove it into the player. Sparks flew out and singed his hand, but he did not notice. After two seconds, he continued after Raven.

"Ghost!" she shouted again. Ghost spun the corner and fired the plasma rifle. The two people dropped out of sight, but before Raven could wonder why, she had to move.

The lightning narrowly missed her, and Bane let out a yelp as he dove out of the way. "Bloody hell, Ghost, you almost killed me!" Bane yelled.

Ghost ignored him and jumped down the manhole he had discovered. As he, followed very closely by Bane and Raven, ran down a small sewage pipe, he failed to notice the slippery part that he was running on.

Ghost flipped over, hitting himself with the plasma rifle and cracking his skull on the hard steel. "Oh shit, oh shit, shit, shit," Raven whispered, frantically searching her pockets for medical supplies that weren't there.

Bane checked Ghost to make sure he was okay, then flicked out his switchblade and carried on down the tunnel.

Raven pulled out Ghost's radio and called for help, not noticing the enormous shape outside. Not until it roared. She picked Ghost up and ran farther down the tunnel.

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Bane was close enough to kill when he heard the roar. "Shit on a shingle, what was that?" he whispered. The two men noticed him and ran. He spun and slipped on the water, cracking his head.

The knife fell into his blood as Bane's unconscious body fell into the river.

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A/N: OOOH!!! dances with Eric's chicken from Invader ZIM What is the monster? You won't know…. Unless I bother to write a sequel, of course. When I originally wrote Unplugged, there wasn't a monster. But there is now. Deal with it.


	17. Burly Brawl

The man named Brother Blood stepped into the small teahouse. He looked around and shrugged at the man seated in front of him. "I hoped I would find the Oracle here," he said, disappointedly.

Seraph looked up, drinking his green tea. "You seek the Oracle?"

Blood grinned as his eyes began to glow red. "Yes, and I was hoping you could take me to her."

The golden program stood up and advanced towards Blood, who suspected nothing. "Of course. I am Seraph, guardian of the Oracle. I can take you to her, but first, I must apologize."

Blood laughed. "For what?"

Seraph held his hands up. "For this." The program hit Blood so hard that he left a large dent in the teahouse wall. Seraph smiled as Blood stared, amazed.

Blood rushed Seraph, but the program caught Blood's hand. Blood kicked at him, but Seraph caught his leg too. Blood's other fist flew at Seraph's face. Seraph simply tripped Blood and kicked him into the wall.

Blood pushed off and collided with Seraph. He used the momentum from the shove to kick off of the wall, but Blood snapped his foot down and kicked Seraph into the support beam.

"Very good. Again I apologize, but you do not truly know someone until you fight them." Seraph opened the door with his special key, revealing not a bustling Chinatown street but an empty hallway of green doors.

"These are program files in the Matrix, aren't they?" Blood asked as they walked slowly down the hallway. "Like hacking a computer? Did you make them?"

"No," Seraph replied simply before opening the door, revealing a small park area. The Oracle sat at her usual bench. Brown stood at the side, glancing around, looking for someone. Or several someones.

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He looked on four rooftops, finding all of the people he expected to be there. The Oracle had told him who to look for:

On one rooftop, Blood's son and eight of his finest students waited, poised to strike as soon as Blood gave the signal.

On another rooftop, Agents Johnson, Jackson and Thompson waited, prepared to kill the three programs and Blood as soon as the Architect gave the signal.

On the third rooftop, Sati lay on the ground, aiming a high-powered M95 sniper rifle. Brown had trained her to use the deadly weapon.

And on the fourth rooftop a young man was seated, cocking the hammers of several weapons strapped to his body. The Matrix had only seen this kind of weapon selection once before.

The first had been made by Neo. The second had been made by Robin.

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"Very well," said Blood a few minutes later. "That's all I needed." He raised his hand, and his nine jumped from their rooftop.

"Damnit," Johnson yelled, and the three Agents jumped off as well. Sati quickly aimed the sniper rifle at Johnson's head, but was distracted by a loud yelling.

Robin leapt off of his perch, guns blazing. He didn't care about killing people as much as Raven did. He hated this lie. "DIE!" he shouted as the Skorpions drilled through two HIVE students.

Seraph was already engaged in hand to hand combat with Blood and Dark, his son. Seraph caught Dark's hand as swiped at the program with his grafted claw, and snapped the claws off. Dark screamed, but Seraph ignored him. He whirled behind Blood and put his hand through the man's head.

Blood shrieked as he watched his own blood splatter the ground. Seraph leapt over Dark and kicked him into the bench, knocking him unconscious.

Brown was fighting only one upgrade, but losing badly. Johnson kicked him into the wall, while Thompson and Jackson looked on. The Agent pulled his Desert Eagle, and was about to kill Brown when Sati capped Johnson in the back of the head.

Thompson spun to get a bullet in the chest. Jackson dodged a bullet, but he wasn't quick enough to dodge Brown's bullet. The Agent sank to the ground as Sati took out her keys and vanished into the Portal.

Brown turned toward the melee. Six students remained, as Robin didn't have many opportunities to use the guns still strapped to his body. He and Seraph fought back to back until the piss-off little midget of the HIVE, Gizmo, decided to unleash the missiles.

Seraph dove out of the way, but Robin caught two and threw them at Mammoth and a shadow-like student. On impact, they were shattered by a sonic-boom type explosion.

Robin then leapt over the techno-geek and snapped his backpack with a single kick. The other HIVE students moved in, but Seraph quickly kicked them out of the way. They began to retreat, but three were quickly taken as hosts by the Agents. Seraph and Brown began to fight them.

Robin kicked Gizmo into a wall. "I won't forget this, you crud-sucker!" said the boy, weakly.

"Learn some real insults, you ugly fuck," Robin muttered as he drew the Glock and fired.

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The Oracle slowly stepped into the Portal. She looked back sadly. "That's too bad," she murmured as Seraph ushered her inside and closed the door.

Robin turned to leave, at his commander's chosen hard line, when he heard a small croak. "Wait… I want to go with you…"

It was Dark. Robin slowly turned and saw the teen's arm had regrown its spikes. "What?" he asked.

"I want to get out."

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"Commander?" said Robin, unsurely.

"Yes?" came the gravelly response.

"I'll need you to load some unplugging kits and send someone else in. We've got someone who wants out."

"Robin, your mission was to simply stop Blood's plan. The monitors are already showing that the Trainman is within the vicinity of the Agents. We don't have time!"

"Commander, I've got a feeling that Blood's son could be very useful. Especially with his abilities in the Matrix."

The Commander paused for a moment, then sighed. "Fine, Robin. But hurry it up. I'm sending Cris in."


	18. Hacked Attack

The hovership _Felicitas_ hovered over the fetus fields, flying quickly towards the tower that Robin and Cris had unplugged Dark from.

As the claw pulled the teenager up into the ship, Robin quickly noticed that, inexplicably, his arm was still grafted. The long claws nearly gutted the Commander as he loaded the unconscious boy onto the stretcher.

"Is there any way to remove the weapon?" Cris asked the Commander.

"No, and at this point, there's no point in even trying. What I don't understand is why the machines developed his arm that way."

Robin looked at his superior. "Can I ask you a question? What are the Agents trying to do?"

"They're trying to start the second war."

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"We succeeded," Jackson informed the Architect. "Did you give him the list?"

The Architect smirked. His plan was just starting to unfold…

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In the vastness of the Matrix, all was still… except for the pounding of keys on a keyboard. The keyboard was not any normal keyboard, but the writer was not anything normal either. He frantically glanced at a small slip of paper, on which was scrawled:

Dead or Freed:

Richard Grayson

SA Raven

Victor Stone

Garfield Logan

Karen Beecher

"Garth"

Roy Harper

Nathan Bliss

Programs Required:

Robin

Raven

Cyborg

Beast Boy

Koriand'r "Starfire" Version 3

Bumblebee

Aqualad

Arsenal (Speedy)

Nathan Bliss

Agent Wilson (Contemporary)

As the night drew to a close, there were suddenly not one but ten people in the room. The writer smiled. "Excellent… now, away with all of you."

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Jackson looked at the nearest person in the room. An Agent took it as a host. "Ah, Agent Wilson," Johnson murmured. "Welcome to the Source. Do you have the program?"

The Agent said nothing as he placed a small disk into the wall. Light flooded the room. Despite their sunglasses, the three Agents had to shield their eyes. Wilson simply stood, allowing the light to flow over him.

When the light faded, the Agents looked at their newest associate.

He was not dressed in the normal suit of an Agent; he wore a long black trenchcoat with rounded sunglasses. On his back were two Sais, on his belt there was a long katana, and his trenchcoat, though Johnson couldn't tell, seemed to hold several guns.

"This is your disguise? In a search for purpose, you cannot look like the enemy," said Johnson. Wilson simply glared at him. "LISTEN TO ME WHEN I AM TALKING! I AM YOUR SUPERIOR!"

"No," Wilson quietly replied. "And I am not here for purpose. I know my purpose. I plan to fulfill my purpose."

I am not obsessed with purpose like you, Johnson. I will do my duty. It is my job to exterminate the humans, and that is what I will do. If you want to find purpose, just waste your life. Not mine."

Thompson couldn't have put it better, but he didn't have the guts to speak up against his commander, he thought to himself as Johnson began to rant at the new Agent.

"The end of humanity will come sooner than you think," Wilson said, before choosing another host.

"Bastard," Johnson muttered under his breath as they too chose new hosts.

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Ghost slowly limped out of the medical bay. As he walked into the study hall, he was greeted by Garth, Sparks and Victor. He looked around, expecting to see Raven or Bane.

"Where are they?" he asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

Garth was the first to speak. "After you cracked your head open, Raven called me on the radio. Bane went ahead to try and find the… whatever you were chasing."

"And then we heard it," Vic whispered. "A loud roar." Ghost's eyes widened.

"I got there as soon as I could. I carried your body back to the city, and went back for Raven," Garth continued. "It was then that I saw heavy footprints, crushed metal, and I ran back. There's something outside the walls of Zion, Ghost."

"Where are they?" he repeated.

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Raven slowly opened her eyes. They were crusted over with blood. They slowly cracked as she opened them enough to see that she was lying on the tunnel floor.

"Shit, what happened?" she asked, but no one answered. She noticed that, a few feet ahead of her, Bane's knife was lying in a now black pool of blood. She slowly got to her feet and looked for a way out.

As she walked down the hallway, trying to find either Bane or the exit, she found a large metal door with several heavy dents. Raven pushed open the door and discovered a small room filled with chairs, a table with small figures on it, and a long metal pole.

She slowly felt the back of her head. Besides the trickling of blood and the plug, she felt a small speck of something. As she wiped it onto her hand, she saw that it was rust.

"I've got to get out of here," she muttered to herself. She turned to leave and try another direction when she tripped over a body, lying on the ground.

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Ghost, Garth, Vic and Sparks slowly crawled down the tunnel. Ghost and Sparks held plasma rifles and were aiming ahead and behind the group.

As they went farther down the tunnel, they heard footsteps. Gar, being the pansy he is, jumped behind Ghost, who aimed the gun in the direction of the noise.

Raven stepped out from the corner, dragging Bane's unconscious body. "Gar?" Ghost said. "You can come out now."

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"SIR!" the lieutenant shouted, as he ran up to Locke's replacement, Commander Roland. "Something's wrong with the Matrix feed!"

"Goddamnit," Roland muttered, and he followed Lieutenant Mattis into the Operations Room. "Oh my God," he whispered.

The Matrix was completely locked up.

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Mainframe Login

Loading….

Access Granted

Programs

Machines

Sentinels

Attack Force

Main Control

Upload Program

Access Granted

Loading….

Successfully Uploaded Programs

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"It worked," Johnson laughed. They had taken over a large amount of 01's Sentinels, and were sitting in (or, more accurately, possessing) four of them. Thousands of Sentinels streamed towards Zion as Johnson, Jackson, Thompson, and Wilson watched with a sense of both dread and excitement.

Each had their own separate thoughts. Unusual, but predictable, for Agents such as these. Johnson thought of conquest and achieving his true purpose, which he believed was to kill Morpheus. Jackson, the Brown of the new Agents, was deep in thought about what resistance the Zionites would put up.

Thompson was beginning to think that this whole thing might actually work. Wilson simply watched as his true motives unfolded, the other Agents oblivious. The Sentinels would never reach the gates of Zion. All 17,000 would be destroyed by his creator's army.

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Roland, Mattis, Morpheus, Niobe and Splice watched in horror as the thousands-strong army flew towards Zion Outpost 01 at massive speed. Zion Outpost 01 was where Captain Ice and Gabriel were docked, along with most of the APU corps. None of them were armed well enough to stop an army.

Roland grimaced as the army was 20 kilometers… 17 kilometers…10 kilometers… and suddenly, they stopped. Red blips began vanishing all over. The Sentinels assumed attack position, but many of them were destroyed as soon as they did.

Something was stopping them. Judging by the holograms, it was something efficient. Something big.

"Contact Outpost 01," Roland barked into his radio. "Evacuate all personnel and as much goddamn weaponry as you can! Immediately!"


	19. The Writer

"What's going on?" Johnson yelled. He read the computer screen frantically, all four of them having evacuated their Sentinel shells and going back into the Matrix. "Something's destroying them all!"

A small smile flitted across Wilson's face. "Tell me, Johnson, have you ever watched the human television drama, LOST? Of anything that has something to do with humans, that is my favorite."

Wilson decided to explain the show. "Of course, all television is pointless, but I enjoy this show. It's about 48, or rather, 47 people whose plane crashes onto an uncharted island. They must find a way off the island, which is, according to the pilot moments before he is slaughtered, 1000 miles off of Australia.

"It would seem very simple if it weren't for the fact that there is a beast in the jungle. It knocks down trees when it walks, it terrifies the survivors, and it is a horrible creature. This show is false, as is everything in the Matrix. The creature is fake, but my Writer has made it real!

Johnson almost screamed, but managed to contain himself. "What did you do to the Writer ?" he demanded. Wilson grinned crookedly.

"The Writer did to me."

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"Dispatch the _Believer_ and the _Hammer_ to broadcast depth. Get as many people out as you can. Something stopped the hacked army, but I expect the Machines will try something like that again soon. Go, now!" Roland ordered as he dashed off to his ship.

He failed to notice the small black camera in the corner, broadcasting every detail of the last half hour to the crew of the _Felicitas_, in the Catacombs of Zion.

Robin silently watched as Cris started the ship up. The Commander walked over. "Robin, any idea what to do?" he asked.

"I'm going in there. Do you see those programs?" Robin pointed to the hacking monitor, the greatest tool they had for monitoring changes in the Matrix. "It's me. I'm going in to get attacked by me. And my friends."

"Well, it can't get any worse, right?" the Commander said, trying to be helpful.

Robin pressed a button. The worse song in the entire world filled the room. It was sung by two strange Japanese girls. "Oh my fucking God," Cris laughed from the cockpit.

"Since when did your Titans have a theme song?" said the Commander, trying not to laugh. "That one's kinda catchy!" Robin made a violent gesture.

The Commander walked away, laughing and singing. "When there's trouble you know who to call! We'd better watch out, Robin, cause they've never met a villain that they liked!"

"Fuck you!"

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"Hacking in… now!" said their Operator, Tesla, and the four entered the Matrix. Destination: New York City.

As Robin, Cris, Dark and Silver drove towards the computer store, hoping to find lots of hackers and other people searching for the truth, they drove past a giant T.

"Look at the giant T!" Cris exclaimed, as they continued on. Tesla and the commander began setting up procedure for unplugging.

Robin looked back from shotgun. He knew they would be there. He knew that his friends would be here, too. If not Victor, or Raven, or Gar, then at least Roy would be here to piss him off.

A large, metallic car and a red motorcycle flew onto the freeway… and Silver sped up. Robin quickly cocked the hammers on his twin K57s and prepared to hold off the coming force.

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The Architect threw open the door of the Writer's room. "What did you do?"

Thomas A. Anderson, the current Writer, slowly laughed. "Not just me. We all created an army, to stop you." Neo took great pleasure in that the Architect's head looked like it might explode.

"At least tell me you uploaded the memory banks into the new programs?"

"I did, indeed. They think they are the freed ones. Now leave me alone. I've got work to do." The Architect closed the door, locked it, and Neo went back to work.

As soon as the Architect was far enough away, the phone rang. Neo ran over to it, pressed a button on the keyboard, and an exact duplicate of him popped up. He took the phone… and disappeared.

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A/N: Get ready for fun action. Fun, fun, fun. And yes, Neo is still alive… too bad.

R/R pleez!


	20. Dark Titans

Cris, Robin, Dark and Silver rushed into the computer store. Several forty-year-old guys were gaggling over Halo 2. He ignored them and walked up to the counter. A tall, lean cashier gasped. "You're here!"

"In the back. We're already set up," Cris replied. The man and four others, none of whom were the Halo 2 obsessors, quickly filed into the back. Cris and Silver followed them, while Robin and Dark stayed. The overweight, hairy men ran out as Robin pulled out his K57s and pointed at the window.

Five teens burst through. "You're under arrest! All of you!" said the leader.

"And what might the charges be?" Robin asked. Dark silently extracted his claws and crouched into a fighting stance. They couldn't see him…yet.

"Disrupting the peace," the leader droned, "attempted kidnapping, attempted murder, murder, kidnapping, and terrorism."

"Goddamnit," said Robin, laughing as he aimed his guns. "Was I that boring?"

The 'Titans' leapt out of the way as Robin opened fire. Cyborg fired a bolt of blue energy at him, which the Rebel merely dodged. Starfire launched a green projectile at him, but he leapt out of the way and used his momentum to kick his program twin into Cyborg.

Beast Boy was about to go after Cris and Silver when Dark lunged at him. The boy slashed upward, catching the armadillo in the soft underbelly. He dodged a perfectly good copy of Halo 2 cloaked in black and shouted, "What the hell? That was a perfectly good copy of Halo 2!"

The dark girl simply ignored him as she kicked him across the face. Dark flew into the rack of magazines as Beast Boy trampled into him as a rhinoceros.

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Meanwhile, Cris and Silver had almost completed the unplugging when Cyborg crashed through the wall. The last person exited as Cyborg looked around. "Where'd they go?"

Cris leapt from her perch above the door and drilled the android in the back. He slid across the ground, but aimed his cannon at the girl. She flipped backwards, into the Robin program. He flew backwards into the street, where he narrowly avoided being run over.

Cyborg got up in time for a whirling, trenchcoat-clad figure to kick him into the wall. Fist after fist flew at the android program as Silver made a larger dent in the wall every second.

The battle outside continued. Beast Boy was now in the form of a lion, fighting Dark claw to claw. Robin and his clone continued to fight, the human having reloaded and reusing his submachine guns.

The fight was completely even… until Garth burst through the window, aiming his MAC11s at the wrong Robin. Robin leapt into the other room, where Silver had already beaten the android unconscious. "It's time to go. Other crews are arriving."

As Kid and Morpheus leapt through the open window, Cris had to hide her face. They believed her to be dead. She quickly jacked out through the hardline in the back.

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Morpheus looked around. His phone rang and he snapped it up to his ear. "Link, what happened? It looks like someone else got them out."

Link typed madly away at his keyboard. "Sir, someone did. But you're not going to believe who!"

Starfire blasted the phone out of Morpheus's hand. Robin rushed him. Morpheus simply caught the program's foot and threw him back into the wall. "Robin!" Kory yelled, as Cyborg fired at the Captain. Morpheus, both hands behind his back, leapt over the cannon blast and kicked the android in the back. He landed on Beast Boy, who turned into a bear.

The bear swiped at Morpheus and caught him in the chest. Kid bounced off of him and blasted the bear with his 590 Shotgun. Beast Boy stumbled backwards, and turned into a snake. He slithered towards Garth, who was fighting with Raven's clone.

He reared back to bite the Rebel when a powerful blast of energy from Raven sent Garth stumbling back. Right onto the snake's head. He changed back and clutched his head as Garth kicked Raven in the head.

Morpheus stepped out the door. "I guess there's no point in staying…" He and Kid quickly ran to their exit. Garth looked around.

"Uh-oh…"

All five programs threw something at him: birdarangs, sonic cannon shots, star bolts, chairs or poison spit (Beast Boy turned into a dilophosaurus). He simply ran into the back room and prayed that AK would see the hardline.

But AK didn't. Tesla did. Garth jacked out just as Cyborg blew the door off of its hinges. "What the heck? How did they do that?" the changeling program yelled.

"We've got to stop this… they're kidnapping people!" Robin yelled. "Their weapons are military-grade. These are not normal kidnappers. These are terrorists and we need to lock them up."

"You failed. Again."

Johnson, Jackson, Thompson and Wilson filed into the room. "When we're busy going after the Mjolnir, we trusted that you could catch Morpheus and Kid. I'm disappointed, Mr. Grayson."

"We underestimated them," said Robin, gritting his teeth. "Apparently…" said Johnson, looking at the utter destruction. "Go home and stop Slade or something. That's about all you are useful for."

The Titans filed out, hanging their heads. They flew home.

"As for you…" continued Johnson. A dark figure appeared out of nowhere. "We have a use for you. What did you see?"

"The Titans were winning until Morpheus came and played off of their egos," it whispered. "We will have a use for them yet."

Johnson, Jackson, and Thompson left. The Exile followed. Wilson stayed a moment… picked up the copy of Halo 2 that Raven had thrown… and followed.

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"Link, what was it you were trying to tell me?" Morpheus asked his Operator after waking up in the Real World.

Link was shaking his head in disbelief. "I don't believe it. Sir, you really need to take a look at this." The Operator had recorded the Matrix feed from ten minutes before Morpheus, Kid and Garth had arrived at the store.

"That's impossible," Morpheus whispered. "They're dead."

Link brought him back to reality. "Sir, there's one more thing. There's a fourth… an unknown."

"Contact Commander Roland with this information immediately. See if you can run a trace on the drop point," Morpheus commanded. "Captain… Morpheus… this line is untraceable." The Captain's eyes widened.

"There's only one ship in the history of Zion with untraceable… evacuate broadcast depth and return to Zion, Serra!" Morpheus ordered. The female crewmember quickly steered the _Believer_ away from the now dangerous fetus fields and towards home.


	21. The Sight of a Nightmare

Raven was silent. He was coming closer… closer… She leapt backwards as Ghost slashed forward with his katana. She expertly spun the twin blades as Ghost twirled towards her. The blades collided, and for a moment, she sensed a smirk forming on his face. But it left as soon as it came, and he rolled onto the roof.

She watched as he suddenly held another katana. She stared at it for a while, in a slow trance, until she realized why he had two.

Bane collided with the back of Ghost's new sword, and Ghost quickly assumed a new stance. "So now there are two of us?" Raven silently mouthed to her friend. He nodded and jumped over a blade.

"Come on, Ghost, you can move faster than that," said Bane. Ghost came again, twirling both long blades around him as he drew near his two friends… apprentices, of sorts. The Chinese man then leapt over and delivered a sharp boot to the unprepared Bane. Raven counterattacked with a blast of obsidian energy.

"Now, now, Rae, that's not fair," Ghost smirked as he dodged it with ease. New buildings flew behind them in a rush of false beauty. Sparks had loaded them into an old Matrix-like training program. Raven's purple hair swished backwards as she flipped into the air behind her, and used her powers to ascend to the nearest roof.

"What is it with you and roofs?" cried the powerless Bane. Ghost, ignoring his human limits, ran to the nearest alleyway and wall-jumped, Samus-style, onto the opposing rooftop. "Oh, come on, you can't…" Bane tried to say before Ghost and Raven began fighting again.

Raven back-flipped onto a new roof and quickly shouted, "Since he's got two swords, I could use some help!" Ghost smashed into her. She yelled as she slid down the side of the building. Bane ran up as Ghost flew down, crossing his Katanas into an X.

Ghost shouted in surprise as Bane literally cannonballed into his mentor and sent him thirty feet away, reeling. Bane then leapt high into the air and brought the single broadsword down onto Ghost's newer katana. The impact shattered the blade, and Ghost took a moment to take in air.

And that was all. He rolled out of the way and reverse-kicked the boy into the wall of the building. Bane sank the sword into the side to absorb the impact, and came back quickly with a low strike. Ghost merely crane-kicked Bane in the chest, sending the boy back again.

Raven leapt over Bane, who was clutching his stomach, and continued the assault on Ghost, finding it much easier to attack when Ghost only had a single sword. She got in a lucky hit, leaving Ghost wide open.

She kicked at his face, and was shocked when Ghost simply moved his head out of the way. He slashed his sword back, and she was thrown backwards. Rocks scattered as she used her powers to steady herself… and vanish into the ground.

Ghost already knew this trick. Two seconds later, he leapt, with a superhuman grace, fifty feet into the air. As he began his descent, Raven appeared out of the ground. Just as planned. His sword drove her into the ground.

Bane struck again, this time with less ferocity. Ghost sidestepped the blow and cuffed Bane in the back of the head. As Bane rolled and prepared himself, and Raven floated behind him, a siren rang out.

"What is it, Sparks?" Bane asked thin air. "We're going into the Matrix to get some more people out. Rollie's orders." Apparently Sparky had already given the new Commander a new nickname.

"But Sparks, we're not finished!" Ghost argued. "Ah, shut up," Sparks laughed. "You were getting your ass whooped anyways."

They sat up in their chairs and pulled the plugs out. Raven went to the Matrix monitors, while Ghost went up to the cockpit to help Niobe start up the ship.

Bane sat in his chair, hyperventilating. Why did he attack Ghost with such furiosity? He wasn't sure…

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The entity that watched the Titans in the store silently sat in a corner of the Titans Tower. No one knew he was there, not even Johnson. He watched as Robin angrily clicked at his computer, trying to find information on the Felicitas 'terrorist cell.' He chuckled to himself.

His phone shook in his pocket. The Exile slowly raised the cell to his ear. "Nightmare," said the unmistakable voice of Carter.

"What do you want? I'm on sentinel duty."

"Whatever. I don't even see why you're working for the Agents. I'm helping the humans." Nightmare scoffed.

"WHAT? It's pretty fun, actually. Marster's crazy, Riyo should be a Goth, Kut can't stay awake for three seconds, and Avril… well, Avril's okay. But she's a human."

"That never stopped you before. Mangy dirtball."

"_Sleaze_ball. Anyways, they're always getting into crazy shit and stuff."

"Sounds fascinating. I'm at the Titans Tower."

"The Teen Titan Tower?" Carter proceeded to sing the song. "One, two, three, four, go! TEEN TITANS!"

"The poor kids have no idea two Japanese chicks made a song about them. I'm monitoring them right now; they got into a fight with, get this: the HUMAN Titans."

"Doesn't seeing yourself make your head explode or somethin'?"

"Only if its you and ya look in a mirror. 'Course, most other people's heads will explode when they see you as well."

"Ha, ha, ha. You are a riot. I'll come over there and pretend to be a villain, that they don't like. God knows I could use a laugh."

"I'll see you there." Nightmare felt the two scabbards at his side and smirked.

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Robin was frantically searching. After taking images of the three attackers (not having any information about the fourth) from Cyborg's retinas, he ran them through his computer and hoped for a match.

The first one that had opened fire on him seemed deathly familiar. If he didn't know better, he'd say that it was just him wearing a trenchcoat and shades. But obviously, it wasn't him. Or a robot, according to Cyborg's scanners.

The other also seemed incredibly familiar. It was something in his face… but Robin hadn't paid much attention to the face. More like the grafted claw. That thing was dangerous and definitely not legal.

The third must have some sort of power, as the dents in Cyborg's armor proved that this person had inhuman strength. The mysterious fourth person, who Cyborg had not seen but declared 'some kind of hurt,' was also a dead end.

Something came up. Robin's eyes widened. He had found a match. They had been fighting the deceased Brother Blood's son. Dark. Robin found as much information as he needed, up to the mysterious deaths of Blood and four students, along with the disappearance of Dark.

"It's time for some questioning," Robin whispered.

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Jinx was perfectly happy. Blood was dead, the pesky little bald bastard was dead and Mammoth and Shadow were dead. Now she was free to actually DO stuff… and the first thing she did was shop. Using Gizmo's infinite card.

She hit the mall and bought lots of gothic crap. She was due for some new stuff. Next, she went straight to the nearest Abercrombie and Fitch. It was when she went to the Gap that she made her mistake.

Robin, Cyborg and Raven stood in the entrance, waiting for her. "Didn't anyone ever tell you to not buy for yourself near Christmas?" Robin asked with a smirk.

"It's April, jackass," was Jinx's reply. Raven lifted two heavy statues and threw them at Jinx, who simply destroyed them with hex bolts and cart wheeled into the leader. He flew into the store as Cyborg fired at her. She simply dodged the cannon and threw a hex at Raven, who absorbed it in a wave of obsidian.

"What do you want?" she yelled as Cyborg narrowly missed.

"Where is Dark?"

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One hour later, they held a tied Jinx in the Tower. "Jinx, we don't want to have to hurt you, but people are being kidnapped. What happened to Dark?" Robin pointed at her.

"Like I'd tell you what happened," she said, and she spat on his shoe. "Fine. Cyborg, your turn." The android walked forward. Her eyes shook.

"Vic, what are you going to do?" she asked, her voice quavering.

"I'm going to protect the citizens I have a duty to," he said, before filling a syringe with a crystal liquid and walking closer to her, his arms at his side. Fear clouded her face, but before Cyborg could inject her, an alarm went off.

Cyborg spun and accidentally slashed her binding with the sharp needle. She pulled it off and threw Cyborg through the wall with a hex bolt. She burst out the window as Cyborg shouted, "Jinx is getting away!"

A sonic cannon blast destroyed a tree near her. She gasped as a green cheetah pounced at her. She sidestepped and blasted the changeling, who rolled and became a triceratops. He ran at her, but she merely leapt out of the way and allowed him to hit the trees behind her. "You are an idiot, aren't you?" she laughed.

A starbolt sent her into the face of the rocky cliff. "Answer the query my friends have bestowed upon you! Where is the Dark?" Starfire yelled.

Jinx ignored her and, smirking, dashed into the forest. Running into a large, black tree. The tree coiled back and smacked Jinx back the way she had come. She was embedded in the Tower. "Ow."

"Maybe… maybe that was a little too much…" said Cyborg, coming up behind the gothic girl. "Maybe serum isn't?" she retorted icily.

A shadow, unseen by the two programs, silently dashed away into the night.


	22. The Sight of a Nightmare : Logos

"We finally got Jinx to tell us what happened," said a thoroughly bruised Cyborg to his leader, twenty minutes later.  
"Nothing illegal, I hope?"

"Nope, just painful. For me, anyways. Dark was taken several days ago after an attack on some Chinese guy and a bunch of guys in suits. Government guys, maybe. She says she doesn't remember a lot after, and get this, YOU used military-grade weapons to kill four of her HIVE friends."

"She's lying."

Cyborg shrugged. "I know, dog. I know. The weird part is… her cranial scans say she's not. Maybe she's insane?"

"Cyborg," said the leader softly, "it's more important to worry about where the _Felicitas_ will strike next. Get Jinx to prison and help me find them."

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The _Logos _slowly planted itself at the drop point. "You all ready?" Sparky asked, as if he cared. "Okay then!" He hit the double diamond button and Niobe, Ghost, Raven and Bane entered the Matrix.

Exactly three hundred and twenty feet from the Titan Tower, and twenty feet from a mysterious black shadow on the ceiling. As the four filed out, he whispered into his cell phone, "They're here. Let's see what the Titans have to prove."

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"Send a squad car right over to pick up Jinx," Cyborg wrote to the police station. Two minutes later, he heard the relaxing sound of sirens. He looked out his window at the bridge where they had left a handcuffed Jinx… and gasped.

Four figures leapt across the bridge after the car. The echoing shots of a pistol went off and the car sped off of the bridge. "Oh, no…" the android whispered.

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"This is the pattern of possible kidnappings," said Robin, pointing to a monitor on the main screen in the living room. Starfire looked on eagerly, while Beast Boy was asleep on the couch and Raven floated in midair.

"They are prob… what is it, Cyborg?" Robin asked the panting Titan who had just ran into the room. "_Felicitas_… in… city…" he gasped.

"Titans, GO!" Robin yelled. As the Titans quickly left to stop the Rebels, another mysterious entity, white in color, materialized above a light into a trenchcoat-garbed man with a crossbow on his belt. He snapped his cell phone out and placed it to his ear. "Carter to Nightmare. This is gonna be one hell of a show."

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"Into the back," Niobe commanded. Seven people in the lobby of the apartment quickly ran to where Niobe had set the unplugging kits. She followed them. Ghost, Bane and Raven all stood in the center of the lobby, wielding their swords, waiting for the Agents.

The Agents did not come.

"Uh, guys?" Bane asked. "What if the…WOW!" he shouted as the R-Cycle crashed into the wall. Robin landed on his feet, whipped out his Bo staff and twirled it. "You're under arrest, _Felic_… wait a second! You're not _Felicitas_!"

Ghost paled. "What's "_Felicitas_?" Bane asked his mentor. "Another crew…" Ghost answered, gritting his teeth. "Locke's old crew. They're all supposed to be dead…"

"It doesn't matter. We saw what you did to that police car. You killed innocent people and… it looks like you're kidnapping more right now!"

A massive noise was heard, just before the T-Car smashed through the wall and rammed Robin's motorcycle, effectively turning it into a piece of the wall. "Teen Titans, go!" Cyborg yelled. 'Dark' Raven phased through the wall and held her glowing black hands up. Raven went after her, spinning the twin-edged katana like a propeller.

Ghost, holding two swords, leapt after the Dark Robin and Starfire. Bane was left against the android and the changeling, who turned into a Tyrannosaurus.

"Oh, shit…"

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Raven ran off of the wall as her dark form threw black energy at her. She batted away a possessed plant and kicked Dark Raven in the chest. The program leapt to its feet and hovered in midair. Raven could have sworn she saw four red eyes, if only for a moment, plastered on Dark Raven's face.

And again she saw her own blue eyes. Dark Raven flew at her, launching obsidian at the Rebel. Raven jumped up just as the energy made a massive hole in the carpet. She landed, rolled, and slashed at the program. Dark Raven flinched as her robe fell off of her neck. As Dark Raven tackled the Rebel through the wall, the four red eyes lit up again. "Stay in control of your emotions, bitch," the Rebel laughed as she stared at the four red eyes.

This time, they did not leave. Dark Raven rose up, the dark essence flowing like dry ice 'fog' out from under a sheet of black. A demonic voice came from the program. "SSSOOOO, YOU LIKE TO PLAYYY WITH SSSWORDSSSS?"

The entity held out its hand and allowed black energy to form in it… slowly, the tiny particles melded into a glowing double-bladed sword. "LET'SSSS SSSEEEEE HOW WELL YOU FIGHT AGAINSSSST YOUR OWN WEAPON….."

Dark Raven/Trigon slashed at Raven, who leaned back quickly and slid under the program's legs. She flipped backwards and went for Trigon's head, but he simply batted her away with a dark tentacle of Azarath energy. She retaliated with a heavy boot to his head.

The program shook its damaged skull and spun, the blade coming dangerously close to the Rebel. Raven ignored the dangerous weapon and used her own to knock the dark sword out of the demon's hands.

"RRRGGHHH…Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" a soothing voice came from the demon and it returned to the Dark Raven form. The true Raven took this opportunity to crack the program over the head with the side of the blade.

Dark Raven slumped to the floor, unconscious.

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Ghost leapt at the teenaged programs, the light reflecting off of his twin Katanas. Starfire blinked as the man slashed down at her, but instead of dodging, she caught the blades in her hands. Ghost kicked her away and used a sword for support while he kicked Dark Robin into the dinosaur.

Beast Boy roared and charged Ghost, who simply smirked, flipped forward onto the dinosaur's back, and began to slash at the tough hide. Beast Boy yelled and turned back into human form as Ghost jumped off of him and collided with Cyborg.

Dark Robin whipped out a birdarang and prepared to throw it when Bane's foot nearly took his head off. Dark Robin swung his staff, but Bane leaned back and swept the Dark Robin's feet out. He reverse-kicked a coming Starfire and stabbed down. In retaliation, Dark Robin used his Bo staff to bat away the sword and proceeded to kick Bane where it hurts.

Bane crumpled onto the carpet as Robin attacked Ghost, who had already beaten Cyborg, Beast Boy and Starfire unconscious with the blunt sides of his swords.

Unbeknownst to them all, two figures watched from the ceiling, enjoying every moment of the fight. One white and one dark…

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A/N: Dark Robin and Dark Raven are simply tribute to MP2:E. Had nothing else to call them!


	23. The Sight of a Nightmare : Confrontation

Ghost dodged a kick, a fist, and a swinging staff as Dark Robin relentlessly attacked the First Mate. Ghost took advantage of Robin's stance and kicked the boy into the wall. He twirled a sword over the boy's body and stabbed down again… but was blown off of his feet by a sonic cannon blast.

The blast carried him into a lounge chair, which toppled over on top of him. "You're under arrest!" Raven laughed as she picked the chair up off of him.

"Funny. Now help me. Bane's out cold," Ghost informed her as she twirled her sword. Cyborg and Robin moved into fighting stances as Ghost cracked his neck.

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"Uh-oh. Time to leave," Carter whispered, and Nightmare brandished both broadswords. "Let's give the Rebels some time to escape, eh?" he asked, smirking. He grimaced and thrust the swords deep into the 'floor.'

The swords cut into the ceiling. Large tiles fell from the unsupported roof and onto the two vigilantes. Cyborg and Robin were knocked out. "Come on, its time to go," Raven said, dragging Bane into the back room.

She held the phone to Bane's ear, waited less than a second for Sparks to redial, and exited the Matrix. Ghost silently looked at the doorway, seeing for just a second, two blurry figures. He jacked out.

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"Well, that didn't go so well," Beast Boy said, trying to lighten the mood at the Tower. Raven sat meditating in the corner, as usual. Cyborg was asleep on the couch with an icepack over the fleshy side of his head. Robin sat at his computer, looking for more information about the other _Felicitas_ they had just encountered.

Starfire joyfully held out to him a glowing pastry. "Relax, friend, and try some of my Earthling pie! Beast Boy told me that you liked slices of pie!"

"Beast Boy is a sick little green crap," Robin said, not looking at his friend, but typing away at the keyboard. "Did you find anything?" Beast Boy asked, unperturbed by the insult. As if he even knew the word 'unperturbed.'

"Not a thing. These people weren't _Felicitas_, and until Cyborg wakes up, I can't scan their images through my database."

The Broadcast Screen lit up. It was Speedy. "Hey, guys! How ya doin'? Heard you've been tracking the Felix terrorist group or whatever! We're getting bugged by this "Mjolnir" group. They keep randomly kidnapping people, and we can't beat them… what's going on with the Felix?"

"_Felicitas_," Robin corrected. "No luck. The two cells seem pretty similar, though, don't they, Speedy?"

The archer shrugged. "Beats the hell out of me! We're leaving that stuff to Bumblebee. She's smarter than me, or so Aqualad says."

Raven twitched slightly and floated over, eyes still closed. Starfire smiled and looked up. "No, girls, Aqualad is still running around after that Garth guy. He says something about playing off of his identity…"

"Does he look like this?" Robin asked, showing Speedy a picture of the man they had seen during the _Felicitas_ attack.

"Holy crap! That's him! Ooh, this is cool: layer the picture OVER a similar picture of Aqualad… check it out! THEY LOOK THE SAME!"

Robin paled. He quickly brought up two more pictures, scanned them together, and quickly stole a glance over at Raven. He walked up silently behind the stoic girl…

"Come any closer, and I will tear your organs out from your mouth," Raven said simply. Robin froze. "I don't want to wear any stupid hat, Beast Boy."

She turned and Robin quickly snapped a picture. He dodged a black energy bolt, which crashed into a relaxing Beast Boy. "OW!"

Robin uploaded the picture to his computer, and quickly scanned the image of the girl in the apartment building onto the image of Raven. It came up the same.

"Titans, there's something definitely wrong here."

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"They figured it out," said Nightmare into his radio.

"Did they encounter the _Logos_?" said the unmistakable voice of Agent Johnson.

Nightmare smirked. "You should have seen it, sir. The Titans were no match for these free minds." He debated for a moment whether to tell the Agent that Carter was present for the fight.

"That's all great and stuff," said Wilson, on another line, "but I'm chasing Roland's crew, so I can't chat. Instead of talking about how the Rebels can beat a bunch of kids, why don't you help!"

They heard gunshots and Wilson yelling. The phone flew out of his hand as he whipped out his twin Sais and leapt into the storm of bullets.

He dodged several shots from Colt, who quickly exited when the Agent landed in front of him. He turned on Roland and Mauser, the last ones in the Matrix, but Roland batted away the twirling Sais with his shotgun. Mauser exited just as Roland pumped the shotgun and fired at the unprepared Wilson.

Wilson had no choice but to leap into the air. Roland smirked and reached for the phone, but the Agent's foot collided with his head. He flew into the table as Wilson landed on one foot, and he continued by gracefully Matrix-jumping into the air and ax-kicking Roland back onto the table. He pulled out his Sai, twirled it expertly, and drove it at Roland.

The Commander reached for the phone and disappeared, Wilson's Sai embedding itself in the desk where Roland's body had been a moment before.

Wilson spat on the desk and leapt away.

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The alarm went off. A tall man in a black trenchcoat burst through the bank wall. The sunlight reflected off of his two broadswords as he dashed away from the scene. Everyone in there was torn up or had tiny shards scattered throughout their skulls.

A man in a white vest and black pants leapt out as well. He loaded several wooden stakes into his crossbow and waited. As a small program dressed in red jump-kicked at him from the roof, he merely extended a hand and caught Dark Robin's foot.

The program gasped, but was too late to do anything else before Carter drove the clone's body into the ground. The rest of the Titans arrived moments later. "Here we go..."

Carter nimbly dodged two starbolts from the oncoming Kory, and took aim. The 'alien' dodged several shards of wood, and fired several more starbolts. Carter merely sidestepped again and fired a solid block of wood at her.

"EEP!" she cried as the impact threw her back. Carter smirked and loaded a new weapon into his crossbow: an EMP grenade.

Nightmare twirled his broadswords and stepped into a fighting stance. Cyborg and Beast Boy foolishly rushed him, while Dark Raven silently entered a meditative pose. She gathered black energy around her as Cyborg fired a blast and Beast Boy turned into a triceratops, both still rushing the entity.

Nightmare reflected the bolt of energy back at Cyborg while Matrix-leaping over the green reptile and slashing down. Beast Boy reverted back to normal as fast as he could, to avoid getting sliced by the sharp weapons. Nightmare's boot collided with the Sakutia-inflicted program as he leapt over the changeling and at Dark Raven.

The girl's meditation was cut short by a pair of beams of light, reflected off of Nightmare's swords. She gasped and quickly attempted to form a protected shield, but she was too slow.

Instead, a blast of sonic waves collided with Nightmare's frame and drove him into a nearby building. Cyborg smirked.

"So, you're like, what, only half mechanical?" a voice dripping with humor said behind him. Cyborg turned and found himself defenseless against Carter. "It only takes half…" he grinned, before firing and knocking the android out of commission with the EMP grenade.

"Cyborg!" Raven yelled. Carter flipped backwards while firing, pinning the half-demon to the wall. "Riyo taught me that trick," the program bragged to Nightmare, "Ciao! I'm gonna go fight for the humans now."

Nightmare watched silently as Carter vanished in a plume of white smoke. "Hey, how's it goin'?" Nightmare laughed at the Titans. He had every reason to laugh.

Robin, facefirst in the pavement and unconscious after a single blow from Carter. Koriand'r, out cold from a heavy shot from Carter's crossbow. Beast Boy with a cracked skull from Nightmare's heavy Goth boots. Cyborg completely shut down from an EMP grenade. Dark Raven was the only Titan awake, but she was pinned in such a fashion that she could not extricate herself. When she began muttering a small series of three words, Nightmare leapt away, across the rooftops.

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"Johnson," Nightmare whispered into his cell phone.

"What are the results of your reconnaissance, program 7539?"

Nightmare groaned. "I told you, Johnson, my alias is Nightmare. Anyways, don't worry about the Titans. They're happily in their own little fairy world. Carter and I blew them out of the water."

The program almost heard Johnson's pulse quicken. "N…number 7671 was there with you too? Why is he helping you?"

"Yeah, blah blah blah. Carter's not fighting on any one side, stupid. He's just in this for enjoyment, like I am. Still, don't put any pressure on him. He can help the humans if he wants. It's a lost cause. Hasn't Wilson talked to you about that?"

"I didn't even know Wilson had talked to you outside of my company…"

Nightmare coughed. "Never mind then. He'll tell you sooner or later."

"…………"

"Talk later," Nightmare went on. "Looks like some unimportant villain is doing something that these little guys don't agree with. Stupid American justice system."

"Like that even applies here."

"We sound like frickin' humans, don't we?"

"…. I don't like you."

"The feeling is mutual. Well, I'm going to go polish my swords. Have fun doing… Agent stuff." Nightmare snapped the phone into his pocket.

"Jackass," he whispered, before cloaking himself and sneaking into the Tower.


	24. Born to Kill, Trained to Run

"Commander," Exeter whispered, as the _Felicitas _floated slowly towards the fetus fields, "Are you sure coming this close was wise? We don't know how soon the Agents are going to strike…"

The Commander smirked. "They are merely licking their wounds. Stop being so paranoid, Exeter."

Captain Exeter leaned back in his chair. "And what exactly did stop them? Do even you, the Leader of the Underground, know?"

"All I know is that it is something dangerous. We need to keep all eyes open for anything in the Real World."

Exeter laughed. "Now who's being paranoid?"

The Commander simply frowned and pressed a button. "We're going back in. You've been out of the Matrix for too long. I think you need to see what we're up against. I'll send a new crewmember in. You watch."

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A solitary figure quickly dashed across the rooftops. With each new building, he took a superhuman leap into the air before continuing on.

He quickly rolled into a cartwheel as a blue streak flew past him. "You missed," he chuckled, and carried on. Five others ran behind him.

The one leading the group suddenly burst forward, as though suddenly being propelled by rockets. Another flew faster to keep up, leaving behind a trail of pitch-black against the already night sky.

The man pulled out a shotgun and fired blindly backwards. Surprisingly, the shots hit their mark: the green phoenix and the android. Both fell backwards and down into an alley. "Cyborg!" cried an aerial Titan, before she too fell under the aim of the shotgun.

Dark Robin dove into his friend and pushed both out of harms way as the shot flew past. Dark Raven quickly summoned a vast amount of dark energy and unleashed it upon the figure.

"Heh," he laughed, before leaping forwards into the blast… which suddenly became harmless as he threw a single fist into it and shattered the energy field.

Dark Raven's eyes widened, but she was helpless to defend as the figure leapt up at her and threw her to the ground. Kory leapt to her feet, checked to make sure Robin was okay, and continued the pursuit.

As she fired a starbolt, he suddenly backflipped over her. The girl gasped in surprise as two heavy boots collided with her back. She was crushed against the hard rooftop.

He ran forward, gave a jaunty wave, and continued on his way.

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"Who was that?" Sparks whispered as he watched the slow fall of the Matrix feed. Niobe glanced over. "What did you say?"

He shook his head. "I didn't say anything. Now hurry up. If the Agents are taking over the Sentinels again, I want to get back to Zion asap."

"Sparks, you are truly a man of cowardice," Ghost laughed. "I appreciate all you do to try and stop us from doing something that will kill you, but you need to realize that we need as many people as possible OUT."

Sparks coughed and pressed the button. The four silently jacked into the Matrix.

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"So, are we meeting any other crews? I don't fancy fighting those freaky kids again," Bane said to Ghost as Niobe drove them down the city streets.

Raven's eyes flared. "You know… I was one of those 'freaky kids.'" Bane gulped. "You're not going to hurt me, right, Rae?" he asked, trying to put on a puppy-dog face and failing miserably.

Ghost's phone rang. The Asian man snapped the phone to his ear and barked, "What is it, Sparky?"

It wasn't Sparks. "Ghost. It's us. My crew and Roland's crew are in the Matrix… and we have important news." It was Morpheus.

Ghost put the phone into his pocket and grimaced at his crewmates. "It's Morpheus," he said simply.

Niobe sped up. "As soon as we get to the rendezvous point," she ordered, "we're going straight after those red-pills. If the Titans are in the area, they're going to recognize both ships. We need to stay away from them."

"Why?" Bane asked. "If we already beat them once before, it can't be too bloody hard to do it again, right?"

Niobe bit her tongue. "Programs are not like humans, Bane. They'll learn from their mistakes. It didn't take long for you to go down last time, remember?"

Bane's face flushed. "How d'you know that?" he demanded. Ghost giggled unnaturally. "It was me," he said in an immature voice.

"Ghost shows his true gender," Raven said, as serious as ever. Bane and Niobe burst into laughter, the latter nearly crashing the car into a truck.

Niobe's eyes widened when the truck moved to block them. Ghost loaded his gun and resumed his normal philosophic-assassin expression. "Agents… about time," he muttered. Raven's heart went into overdrive.

A scream escaped from Bane's mouth as Agent Johnson leapt onto the hood, already taking aim. Ghost had taken aim faster. The Agent fell off the hood, bleeding, as Bane curled up in the backseat.

"God," Raven muttered to her crewmate, "between you and Gar, I'm surrounded by pansies. Be a man!"

Bane tilted his head slightly. She saw that he was grinning. Raven then noticed the position he was in: not curled up, but in a crouching position… "Done."

The boy leapt out of the car, brandished two Sig Sauers (forever the trademark of his mentor, Ghost) and landed Samus-style on the pavement. Johnson stepped to his feet and, ignoring his obvious wounds, began to furiously beat the boy.

Bane's neck cracked after a particularly heavy blow, and the teen struck back. Johnson dodged a shot from one Sig Sauer. Another bullet struck him in the hand, but Agents like Johnson were nearly impervious to pain. The third bullet finished him.

Bane sped after the car, running at an impossible speed. Ghost grinned and pointed his thumb back. "I taught him that," he laughed as Bane leapt into the gap that was once the top of the car.

"Well, that was pretty easy," said Bane.

"Let's get to that rendezvous point!" Ghost whooped and raised his hand into the air. Raven cocked an eyebrow.

"Um…. Bane is supposed to be the comedy relief of the crew," Niobe informed her First Mate. Ghost slumped in his seat.

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"We all know the assignment: free the cluster of minds at the National Congress Library. The problem is that those programs based on the Titans somehow knew we were coming. They have staked the place out, along with several policemen and…most likely… the Agents," Morpheus droned. Raven looked into space as Niobe and Ghost stood at attention.

"Bloody boring, this is," Bane muttered to his friend.

"Then that's it. Go to your posts, and we'll continue with the plan from there. Just remember: this plan is essential. If anyone slips up, it's certain death for all of us. The Machines may have stopped fighting, but the Agents have not."

Bane looked up. "Uh-oh…" Raven grinned. Time for improvisation.


	25. The Sight of a Nightmare : Controller

Raven grabbed the wrists of Bane and Ghost, who in turn took Niobe and Serra in hand. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," Raven muttered silently, and the five began a slow descent into the ground, towards the library.

Meanwhile, Team Two, which consisted of Morpheus, Kid, and Roland and his crew, were slowly rechecking their guns. It was time to strike.

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A rather obese teen, perhaps 18 or 19, with red hair and donning a Klingon coat, sat snugly at his computer in the library. "Die, bitch!" he shouted randomly, as his character blew online opponents into bloody chunks.

Suddenly, he looked up. The sound of bullets rang through the library. Some of the people leapt out of their chairs and looked around warily. Only he noticed the black form of five people float through the floor. And the unmistakable voice of the man he only knew through Unreal Tournament said:

"Everyone, into the back. We're getting you all out." Bane.

And there was another… another he knew quite well… but she couldn't be here. He looked out the window. There he was: the legendary hacker and terrorist, Morpheus. Fighting the Teen Titans? Control Freak almost wanted to take a picture.

"Damn… I didn't bring my camera," he muttered. He noticed the Raven outside firing burst of energy at someone who looked suspiciously like Aqualad…

He turned, and there was Raven, herding the many library patrons into the back, where he knew that they would be unplugged. "Well, well, well," he said, drawing out each syllable.

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"Everyone, you already know who we are," Raven commanded, "so just go into the back and try to make hush-hush. Others are outside making a distraction so you can get out."

She felt a familiar presence behind her… or a smell. The smell of cheese curls. "Well, well, well…" a familiar voice said from behind her.

A vein twitched in her forehead. "Oh, no," she muttered, before turning and facing the fat man. "So, coming to get us out of the Matrix?" Control Freak smirked. "Thanks for the favor, Rae."

"Get in the back, bastard," she snarled. His grin widened.

"I am curious though; is like, your evil twin out there fighting Morpheus or something? And Aqualad. You got all the Titans out, didn't ya?"

"You know so much," she said, still stoic, and crossed her arms, "how come you didn't get out before now?"

"Waiting for Bane. Old friend." Raven almost laughed.

"Whatever. Get your fat ass into the back before I just kill you," she ordered. "I'm sure you were friends with Bane, considering you probably don't even know his name…"

"Nathan Bliss. He used to have us call him Bane after some famous hacker. That's where I got all my info, duh!"

"Get back there before I slice your four hundred pound head off."

Control Freak merrily strode into the back room, where he was seated by a black woman and his old friend Bane. "Hey, Jasper! What's going on?"

"Dude, you've got, like, a beard," he muttered to Bane. Bane smirked and waved as Niobe, with difficulty, sat him in the seat. "See ya in a minute, you old bastard."

Control Freak jacked out.

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Morpheus reloaded one KS7 and let loose a stream of bullets from the other. Dark Raven merely dodged and fired a burst of black energy at him. "Doesn't she have any other tricks?" Kid yelled at Garth.

He spoke too soon. Dark Raven slowly began to project her astral form. The great bird swooped down upon the Rebels. "Well, there's that!" Garth yelled as he flew to the side, both MAC11s firing madly.

The bullets were simply absorbed into the demon as it quickly progressed towards Kid. The First Mate closed his eyes and winced…

A rapid series of shots from Morpheus drove Dark Raven away from Kid, and she focused on Morpheus instead. The astral projection drew closer as Morpheus matrix-flipped into the air and fired down. The bullets sank into the projection, canceling it out. Dark Raven fell from the black cloud, unconscious.

Morpheus landed in time to get slapped back by a large green bear claw. The bear roared and charged. Morpheus aimed the KS7 at the bear's skull, and it turned into a triceratops.

A quick shot from Colt's grenade launcher blew the dinosaur to the side. Morpheus saluted to Roland's First Mate and leapt at the elf. Beast Boy looked up in time to see a steel-toed boot fly towards his head.

"Not again…" he muttered, before Morpheus knocked him out.

"One down," Garth yelled to Kid, whipping out two small daggers and dashing, both hands behind his back, towards the Titans.

Kid pulled out his large Mossberg shotgun and twirled it while pumping it. "Four to go! Live and let die!"

Dark Robin spun on his heel, leaping into the air, and swung his bo staff down at the charging Garth. One dagger blocked the pole, while another flew at Robin's chest. Robin slapped the arm down and kicked off of Garth, who flipped backwards, replaced a dagger with an Uzi, and fired.

Robin spun the bo staff and deflected every shot. He looked back and saw Starfire swooping in, both starbolts charged. "YAAAGHH!" she cried, as she launched a continuous stream of projectiles at Garth, who merely dodged by flipping backwards.

BLAM! Kid's shotgun fired at the girl, who yelped and leapt out of the way of the shot. Garth leapt into the air and piledrived her into the ground. She looked up. "Oh, shit," he muttered as her eyes began to glow green.

"I do not agree with your Earth verbal commentaries. Robin says that," KRAKKK! Garth snapped her over the head with the butt of his Uzi. "My god, you just don't know when to shut up!"

Kid cart-wheeled over bulletfire from a random police officer, and quickly fired the shotgun when standing. The cop flew into Cyborg, who glared. He stopped firing at Morpheus and instead began launching waves of sonic energy at Kid.

Kid flinched as the blue energy beam flew at him, but a solid wave of black absorbed it. He grinned at Raven as the four others, finished with the unplugging, ran out of the building. Cyborg fired at Raven, who teleported behind him and threw Azar energy at the android's head.

"AUGH!" he cried as the impact destroyed most of his artificial skull. He slumped to the ground, deactivated for the moment. Dark Raven spun at her Rebel twin, launching thin blades of dark energy. Raven held out her hands and countered with a large beam of energy.

The two stood struggling, until Robin's boot collided with Raven's back. She shouted and fell forward. Dark Raven's eyes widened as her leader was thrown back by the power of her dark energy.

Kid stood up behind Dark Raven and slapped the back of her head with his shotgun. "Night, night, kiddies."

Johnson fired at point blank range. Kid's eyes became too big for the laws of physics as the bullet soared at him. Time went into slow motion. Kid prepared to move, in vain, just as a large Tisiphone Edge was held out in front of him.

The bullet was blocked. Raven looked up at Kid's savior.

He wore a large black bandana, along with a black trenchcoat, black boots, and black sunglasses. He even had black spiky hair. The warrior paid no attention to Raven or Kid, but instead twirled around and gutted Johnson.

Wilson smirked and left his host, which turned out to be a fully armed SWAT commander. Jackson, Thompson, and the policemen opened fire on the new fighter. He leapt over the bullets, which flew at Morpheus and the other crews. They fell to the ground, created force-fields, or just simply deflected the bullets with their weapons to avoid the projectiles.

The masked person stabbed down at a police officer, then used his Tisiphone to level himself while he bashed another's head in. He whipped out a KS7 and opened fire on the Agents, who dodged and rushed him. Four quick slices of the nimble blade were all it took to bring them to their knees.

The SWAT commander opened fire with his many assorted weapons. The warrior merely leapt gracefully into the air and threw the sword at his head. The weapon split his skull in two, splattering the contents of his head across the bullet-lined pavement.

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"They're gonna have a hell of a time cleaning that up," Sparks muttered to himself in the _Logos_ Core. Two others watched from behind him.

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"Kickass! Where's ma main man Bane? He's missing the sweet shit!" said a newly freed person inside the Believer. A vein pulsed in Link's forehead. "How can you read this, anyways?"

"Bane taught me, biotch," the rather heavy man said. "You know who this guy is, of course. It's Robin! I could tell from that fighting style. He's a bit more…" Jasper twirled his finger around his head for effect, "…crazy… or violent. Whichever works!"

He laughed at his own joke. Link began having fantasies of strangling Jasper, but decided he wouldn't be able to reach the man's neck.

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"Get the Titans out of here," Raven ordered after the mysterious vigilante had disappeared. "The last thing we need is traumatized opponents."

Bane shook his head. "Shite, are these bloody buggers always gonna' be here to stop us? It's gonna be hard to get many people out with crap like this to deal with."

"Let's just hope this is all of the Titans. I don't want to deal with Titans West too soon," said Niobe, raising her cell phone to her ear.

An arrow shot the cell phone back, where it shattered against the wall. "I think you spoke a little too soon," said Bane. "Shut up and jack out. We'll take care of them."

Raven silently entered meditation. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinthos…" Black energy formed around her, effectively serving as a cloak.

Morpheus ran up the stairs followed by Kid and most of Roland's crew. He took a quick glance back at the five figures closing in on his fellow Zionites… and followed the others to the hard line.

Niobe nervously fingered her gun, her knuckles white. "These are a lot tougher than those last five…" Garth murmured to Ghost, who nodded silently. Garth twirled his daggers and stepped to the side, while Ghost and Bane unsheathed their Katanas.

"It looks like we came just in time. Garth, you are going to jail." Garth smirked at Dark Aqualad. "I think not. Instead, I think you five are going straight to HELL!"


	26. The Sight of a Nightmare : Demons

Morpheus opened his eyes and sat up in his chair. "Uh, sir? There's something wrong," said the Operator. Morpheus ignored him… until he saw that Kid was still plugged in. "He's going after Robin," Control Freak smirked.

The Captain stared at him. "What do you mean? Robin killed himself several weeks ago."

"I think not," Jasper said, grinning stupidly, "He was the guy that saved Kid. Kid's going after him. Searching for answers."

Morpheus thought of arguing with the fat man, but instead replied, "How do you know this?"

"Fought Robin. Chatted with Bane. Pissed Raven off. The whole kit 'n' kaboodle." Jasper suddenly looked proud of his amazing word power.

"I'm going back in," Morpheus quickly said to Link, and he slowly walked over to his chair. He jacked into the Construct. "Don't leave us with him!"

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Morpheus whipped out his sunglasses and set them on his face lightly. "Link, get me some weapons!"

"Me too!" a voice chirped behind him. Morpheus slowly turned as the racks flew towards him. A rather noticeable figure was blurred by the coming racks, but Morpheus had a good idea of who it was.

"Control Freak... or Jasper... or whatever the hell your name is, you can't come with me! You haven't even gone through basic training yet." Jasper just grinned evilly at that.

"Oh yeah? Nothing's gonna stop me by fighting alongside my main man Bane! And if you're wondering what to call me, I figured that my Matrix alias could be something like Control or Romulus."

"Try Henry the Eighth," Morpheus muttered under his breath, thoroughly pissed off. "Whatever. Control works just fine. Bane did inform you of that, right? About how..."

"The Matrix has me, Machines pwn me, blah yeugh bleurgh. Shut up and toss me some guns!" Morpheus sighed and threw his obese partner a pair of heavy FN MAG M240s. "SWEETNESS!"

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Link considered something for several moments… and pressed a single button on his keyboard:

Send Matrix Feed

A small message typed itself across one black screen. "Sent to… Gnosis. Area sent: 10 kilometers." They were close. Vic had to have already been in the Matrix.

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Kid landed on the rooftop after Matrix leaping onto the literal stairway of cars. He noticed the mysterious figure gazing at the fight below. Watching. "Hey!" Kid called out.

The figure swiftly ran. Kid gave chase. As the vigilante leapt over a particularly large rooftop, Kid was caught in the chest by a heavy steel-toed kick. He fell, as the laws of physics would have it, straight into an open sewer manhole. "Shit!" Kid cried, coated in shit.

The swordsman ran three steps before a dark shape materialized in front of him. "Hello, Robin," Nightmare hissed as he unsheathed both broadswords. Robin twirled his Tisiphone Edge and moved into a fighting stance.

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Garth dodged a kick from his Dark version, and caught a fist. Using his arm as a literal catapult, he threw Dark Aqualad into the wall. Speedy quickly fired twice at him, but he caught both explosive arrows and twirled, hurling them at Mas and Speedy. The archer simply spun and refired the arrow, which this time exploded on impact. Mas was not so lucky. The explosion carried the Speedster back into a building.

Menos turned and ran towards Bane, who was standing in the middle of the fray, turning his sword and looking for something to do. He found it in the small being twirling around him. "Hold still, dammit!" A well-placed kick knocked him out cold.

"We need to get out!" Niobe yelled, before Speedy's kick forced her onto the ground. Raven kicked him away and helped her Captain up. Ghost fired his Sig Sauers at Bumblebee, who dodged and electrocuted him.

"AAAUGHH!" he screamed as she increased the voltage on her stun rods. She let him fall to the ground, unconscious, as she turned and found Niobe aiming a large pistol at her.

"Fifty caliber. Action Express. Move and I'll blow your brain out of your skull. You're not going to dodge this." Niobe gasped as a super-fast foot collided with her back. She fell to the ground as Menos held her hands up in a V.

She screamed as rapid bulletfire danced around her feet. Morpheus leapt to the ground, twirling a katana expertly. Control sat at the top of the stairs, firing at the Speedster. "How come you can't use this crap in Hunting Season 2002?"

A quick kick was placed in Control's chest, with no effect. Menos raced away as Control fired down where she was a moment before.

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Nightmare slashed at Robin, who leapt over the blade and ducked another. He kicked the assassin program in the face, but he was unfazed.

Another slash sent a defending Robin to the side of the building. Nightmare slowly walked over, sheathed a single broadsword, and held Robin up by his collar.

"Did you really think that the Rebels could get away with something like this without any casualties?" He shook the boy roughly, and dropped him. Drawing his other broadsword, he slowly began to crush Robin's chest with his heavy Goth boot.

Robin gagged for breath as blood flooded into his mouth. "Don't worry, kid. This'll all be over in a minute." He held a broadsword behind his back for a moment.

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Vic squirmed in the chair. His friend was dying. He gripped the chair, running with all of his superhuman strength. He whirled his trident…

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CLANG! Metal against metal. A smirk flitted across Nightmare's face as Stone desperately tried to hit him. But he simply parried every blow, while still focusing on crushing Robin's skeleton. Vic groaned as he drove the trident forward as hard as he could.

Nightmare was taken by surprise and forced to another rooftop. Robin gasped as air flooded into his crushed lungs. Victor looked at his friend momentarily before Matrix-leaping across the gap and clashing weapons with the program.

Nightmare instinctively dropped one broadsword on impact and held the second with both hands. He threw Vic to the other side of the roof, but the human caught and steadied himself.

The program held his open hand out, and the first sword slowly floated into his hand. He breathed deeply, and a large grin plastered itself on his face.

Vic's eyes widened, then narrowed. He charged. A quick strike to the right was blocked, and another broadsword slashed at Stone. He moved the trident so that Nightmare's first sword was blocking the second, and literally threw the first sword off of the building. He smirked and dodged a stab from Nightmare, and moved into another fighting stance.

"No more playing? Okay," Nightmare remarked, before teleporting in front of Vic and stabbing straight at the teen's chest. Vic was completely unprotected from the blade.

Robin's eyes widened.

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Morpheus leapt over Bumblebee as she flew at him, and kicked her back. The girl turned in midair and shocked the man. He slumped to the ground, smoking. She kicked his head for good measure and turned, seeing Niobe trip a rushing Menos. She did not get up, but Niobe went under seconds later.

Bumblebee jumped over Raven, who whipped out her katana. Bumblebee reverse-kicked the Rebel, who left skidmarks in the ground and rushed back in.

Raven, twirling her blade, slashed at the Titan's head. Bumblebee blocked with the stun rods, but Raven's blade sliced through them like Wonder Bread. The black program screeched as Raven stabbed down.

A black blade slapped Raven's katana away. She looked up, grinning. "So, ya ready for round two?"

Dark Raven frowned and high-kicked at Raven, who ducked and kicked her Dark version away. She slapped Bumblebee in the head with the side of one blade, and rushed after her clone.

She sliced down at Dark Raven, who deflected with her own darksword . The program catapulted herself up to a roof, and Raven quickly followed. She dodged a quick swipe from Dark Raven and punched the program in the chin. Dark Raven stumbled backwards before vanishing.

Raven smirked and did the same. Moments later, Dark Raven reappeared and fell to the ground, limp. Raven hyperventilated, drawing in the victory.

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Cyborg opened his human eye. "What… happened?" he slowly whispered. He lifted his head, pushing off of the ground. Dark Raven fell to the ground, limp and bleeding. "No…" he whispered again.

Cyborg looked up. The mysterious swordswoman stood on the rooftop. He slowly raised his cannon and took aim. She turned to the side and ran… towards where the OTHER swordsman and a familiar person of the _Felicitas_ were fighting.

He fired at the swordsman with all of his remaining strength… and sank into unconsciousness, his arm cannon still letting loose a stream of deadly energy. The last thing he heard was a pained cry before darkness...

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Garth kicked his Dark version in the back, finishing the fight. "We're done here," he muttered. He helped a stirring Ghost to his feet, and they carried the three other Rebels to the hard line. He looked back as a pained cry burst from someone's mouth. Not the Titans…

"VIC!"

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Raven slumped to her knees in shock. Nightmare simply smirked and pointed the broadsword at her. "You're next," he said darkly before a fist collided with his back.

"You filthy bastard," Dark hissed before extracting his claws and stabbing the program in the arm. "You realize what you've done?" Raven asked Nightmare as her eyes began to glow red. "Trigon is awakened." A stream of energy flew past Nightmare, causing his coat to flutter in the air.

"Dark!" Robin ordered, gasping for breath. "GET AWAY FROM THERE!" Dark leapt away just as Raven turned into a giant, red demon. Antlers sprouted and long, jagged teeth grew out of her mouth.

"Inside the Matrix, my powers work… so I am going to turn your life into a nightmare!" she hissed viciously. Nightmare smirked and twirled one broadsword with his good arm. "I'll kill you next. Sound good?"

Trigon swept down at Nightmare. The claw slashed across his face. He leapt over a second claw and stabbed down. The blade bounced off of Trigon's tough skin and flew towards Robin. Dark caught it by the blade, and threw it to the ground below.

Crimson dripped from his normal hand. He picked his teammate up and started towards the hard line as quickly as he could. Moments later, Karen dropped to the ground. She aimed an SG-552 assault rifle at Nightmare, who vanished in a plume of smoke. Trigon shrank back into Raven, who silently stared at her best friend's body.

Karen fell to her knees. Tears began freely falling from Raven's eyes. Dark stopped for a moment and sat Robin up. He was saying something.

"…vic…serum..." Dark couldn't understand, so he continued onto the hard line. Leaving Raven and Karen standing around Vic's bleeding body.

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Kid slowly pulled himself out of the manhole. He limped to the stairs of the library, and noticed Garth reloading both guns and disappearing somewhere. He continued on and jacked out.

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"Sorrow. Guilt. Fear. These lead to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering… and for our friend Raven, it leads to Trigon."

Sati, Brown and Seraph watched as the Oracle saw all.

"Never were truer words spoken."


	27. The Sight of a Nightmare : Final Sight

Vic's hand twitched in the Core of the _Gnosis_. Ice and Corrupt silently watched, as Jacob injected a silver serum. "Don't die on us now, Vic," he muttered as Vic's heartbeat steadied itself.

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Stone opened his eyes and sat up. The wound was dripping blood. He looked around and saw Raven and Karen's faces fill up with joy. "Where'd he go?" he asked, before falling back into darkness…

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Nightmare dashed down the alley, breathing heavily. "Dammit, the Agents are going to be pissed that I only killed one." He suddenly felt someone's breath on him.

He turned his head and found himself staring down the barrel of an MAC11. "It's not the Agents that you have to worry about pissing off. It's the friends of who you kill," Garth said angrily. "There's a certain line that you don't cross, machine. You just overstepped the boundary."

As his finger squeezed slowly, he smirked. "And the irony of it all is that Vic will walk away today. You won't. Have fun in whatever place you machines call Hell. You deserve less."

RAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT-A-TAT!

"Overkill, but efficient nonetheless," he said softly, before slowly walking to the Hard Line in the library. The dark figure behind him slumped to the ground, artificial blood freely flowing.

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Johnson's eyes snapped open, as they had returned to their 'home' after failing to prevent the mass unplugging. "What's wrong?" said Wilson, not looking away from his solitaire game.

"It's Nightmare… he's dead, isn't he?" Wilson remarked. Johnson stared at him. "How did you…"

"It's a gift," Wilson replied, cutting him off. "Now shut up. We're going back in. In the words of Agent Smith, they're not out yet." Johnson paled as Wilson disappeared.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" he barked at Thompson and Jackson. "We can still kill the Rebels!" They vanished as well.

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Garth slowly followed Raven and Karen to the hard line. Raven was slowly chanting to allow Vic's sleeping body to float to the hard line. Garth stepped inside after the two girls and closed the doors.

He turned just as Wilson punched the doors down. Time went into slow motion as Garth propelled himself forward with a handstand and Wilson drew back his fist. Garth's neck cracked as Wilson's fist turned his head.

He followed up with a high kick, which Wilson simply avoided. The Agent punched Garth back. The teen slid across the floor, spat out blood, and reverse-kicked the coming Agent into the computers.

Sparks flew out of the servers, disabling the Agent for the moment. Garth slowly breathed in and dashed to the hard line. The three other Agents rushed in and opened fire. He ducked under the stream of bullets and answered the call as Johnson burst in.

"They got out," Johnson muttered as he turned to his colleagues. Wilson sat up, charred and bleeding. "Now we wait."

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"Sir, I'm telling you, it's the truth," Raven repeated to Commander Roland. He shook his head. "It's a trick," he replied stubbornly.

"Commander," said Morpheus, "I encourage you to listen. Perhaps Robin survived his fall?"

Roland laughed. "And even if he did survive falling about 30 stories, how do you think he got into the Matrix?"

"_Felicitas_."

All heads in the room turned to Ghost. "It's _Felicitas_. They're alive. All of them. It's the only way." Roland actually laughed.

"Ghost, it's the Machines. Same as the Titans. The only thing I don't understand is how they know Robin died."

"Why are we talking about some coppertop who died instead of talking about the new minds?" a Captain who Raven knew as Splice remarked.

Again, the heads turned to Ghost. "Robin was an extremely talented individual, both in martial arts and," he smirked, "acting. Robin was never paralyzed. He acted it out, most likely starting the second Roland told him his muscles were atrophied oddly."

"How do you know this?"

"His three friends told me," said Ghost, pointing at Raven and Greene. "Where's Victor?" Ice said suddenly. "He was supposed to be here…"

"He's in the infirmary. Trauma and stuff. Commander, let us continue with the meeting uninterrupted," said Ghost.

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"Anderson!" a technician yelled from the breeding room. Thomas blindly stepped over. "Are the Grenchler-classes ready to be tested?"

"Almost," the technician said excitedly. "Interesting. And the Beasts? Raptors?"

"Already in the field. There's just one problem…"

Anderson crossed his arms angrily. "Seta, right?" The technician gulped. "He acts all high and mighty because his ancestor was the first One… pfft. I'll talk to him." Thomas Anderson silently walked away, using mechanical light as his guide.

The technician watched for a moment, almost in awe… and turned, monitoring his bio-engineered creatures carefully.

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A/N: That's it until after the New Year. Every three chapters or so, I plan to give a small scene of Neo and the 'others.'

Please Read and Review, and if you have any guesses to what the plot of Neo and the 'others' is, put that in your review.

Ciao.


	28. Ceasefire

"Hey, Bane, guess what? I've got a fancy new ALIAS!" Jasper yelled into his friend's face as they were walking back to their apartments.

Raven sighed angrily. "What is it? Fucker underscore who underscore can't underscore shut underscore up?"

The obese man laughed. "You'd think that? And what's yours, Rae? The Bitch Queen?" Raven's eyes suddenly began to glow. Bane paled.

"Don't… make… me… angry…"

He waved her off. "Whatever. Anyways, I thought Control was a pretty cool name. What think, Nate?"

"Well… whatever suits the bearer."

Jasper frowned at Bane. "I hate it when you talk like that. How about you, Raven? How does Control sound? You know where I get it from, don'tcha?"

Bane burst into laughter. Raven calmly held up her middle finger and walked into her apartment. "Frigid bitch… anyways," Control rambled, "what are these apartments like? Any Xboxes or shit, Nate?"

"First off, my name is Bane. Second, try not to piss Raven off. She's a good person… she just doesn't like you. And lastly, Xboxes would be compared to, oh, I don't know, carved trains here." Control found it hard to keep the drool in his mouth.

"So then what system do you have here?"

Bane grinned.

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Jasper sat on the PPU, easily taking up both spaces. "How are you gonna play?" Bane laughed. "I've got my own. Fortunately."

"Don't do anything when I'm in the game!" Jasper muttered. "I'd worry more about Raven. Zion does have knives."

"How do you know?"

Bane's eyes suddenly shifted. He unconsciously moved his sleeve down and stepped out of Jasper's cramped apartment. Jasper silently sank into his PPU.

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Bane crept forward, unarmed. Control could not see in the shadows yet.

"Looks like I've got an advantage," Bane mouthed silently to his opponent. Control suddenly walked straight towards him. "Bane?"

Bane rolled behind a pillar as Jasper stepped carefully around the Stonehenge-like simulation. An artificial wind picked up. Something fluttered in the wind…

Nathan leapt out from behind the giant rock and found Control staring right at him, holding a claymore. He shivered, unarmed, but the man simply turned and looked in another direction.

"No night eyes yet…" he thought to himself as he slipped behind another pillar.

Something fell to the ground. Bane gasped as Control instinctively sliced at it. He hit nothing but air. Bane sensed Jasper feeling around the ground with his sword. He hit something… metal.

"Woah. Night vision goggles."

'OH SHIT!' Bane's thoughts raced as he looked out from his hiding spot. Control was not looking at him. He was looking up, at the top of another rock.

The fluttering wind picked up again. Bane turned on his heel and saw Jasper stepping back, holding the sword in a fighting stance. CLANG!

Metal against metal. Boot against teeth. Control stumbled back as a dark figure bore down on him. "I don't know what you want, but I'll tell you what is going to happen, freak. You're going to leave Bane alone and never talk to me again."

Raven.

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"The terrorism is getting worse," said a news announcer on the Titan's television. "According to reports, over a dozen people were kidnapped last night by a large group of terrorist cells, whose names include _Logos_, _Mjolnir_, _Felicitas_, _Nebuchadnezzar_ and _Believer_. The Teen Titans from both sides of the city were present, as was the City Police Department. The Titans, fortunately, suffered no casualties, but according to the Titans East leader Robin, an unknown terrorist resembling himself killed every member of the police force present.

The Titans have agreed to give a warning to the public. Tune in at 6 for the whole story."

Robin switched off the TV. "Twenty people. Twenty people were killed last night," he said, pacing the floor angrily. "We can't let this continue!"

"Just be quiet!" Beast Boy shouted, trying to play his handheld game. "Pay attention," Raven hissed, her nose buried in a book. "YOU'RE NOT EVEN PAYING ATTENTION!"

Dark flames danced in Raven's eyes. The changeling cowered behind Cyborg, who moved to leave a clear shot.

"Save the deadly black energies of fun for the terrors!" Starfire cried as Raven lifted her hand at Beast Boy. She relaxed and returned to her book.

"Robin…" said Cyborg slowly, "I put the other pictures from the fight into the computer. We're fighting some weird version of us."

"Ya mean like Larry?" Beast Boy shouted, reminded of the fat little fanboy who came to the Tower for a short time.

"Possibly. But these are more dangerous. We'll have to use caution. We'll…"

"Please be quiet, Robin," said Raven, both eyes closed. "We understand what the problem is, but you talking interrupts my meditation. As Beast Boy would say, 'shut up.'"

Robin raised an eyebrow. "Since when have you started quoting Beast Boy? Anyways, I figure that if they keep going after people who use computers, we'll be able to guess where they will strike next."

Cyborg raised his arm. "Just so you know, I stopped listening after twenty. We need to be more ruthless! They certainly don't hesitate to."

"People are _dying_, Robin. We'll have to beat them at their own game," Beast Boy added. "Game… heeheehee," he giggled as his ADD kicked in.

"I certainly didn't hold back when… what are we gonna call our 'clones,' anyways?" said the android suddenly.

"Does it matter what we call a criminal?"

Starfire giggled and jumped up and down. "Let us create new names for our foes! The naming ritual on ou…MMMPH!" she gasped as a black strip of energy smothered her mouth.

"Stop talking," Raven hissed.

Beast Boy frowned. "Just leave if you don't care that people are getting killed!"  
"People die. It's called life, Beast Boy. I, frankly, just wish to keep my emotions under control.

"He got out again when we faced my twin."

Robin's eyes squinted under his eyemask. Cyborg sat up, his face full of worry. Beast Boy hid behind the couch. Starfire winced slightly, remembering what happened when Trigon broke loose.

"It seems that this 'twin,' as Robin calls them, provokes my rage. This is going to be a danger for us more than them… because she can use a form of Trigon as well."

"Oh, crap. _Two_ Super-PMS girls are running around?" Beast Boy moaned, before shrieking as Raven glared at him. He jumped behind the couch again.


	29. Cycle 1: Attack of the Beast

"Well, I don't think they expect anything unusual. Should I begin the mission?" asked Wilson. The man he was speaking to twitched. "As much as I dislike this plan, it's the only way to finish this."

Wilson mock-saluted. "I understand." He turned and continued speaking. "We have guests." He disappeared, taking a host in some random part of the Matrix as Johnson kicked open the door.

"So. I should have known. The systemic anomalies are the Writers," the Agent leader smirked, flanked by Jackson and Thompson. "It was you who sabotaged the breach, wasn't it?"

The man smiled. "Not just me…"

Johnson frowned beyond the limits of a human face and rushed Neo. Neo bent backwards to avoid a high kick, swept Johnson's feet out from under him, and kicked him into the desk. The Agent leader leapt up, and rushed the anomaly. Thompson leapt into action as well.

Neo leapt into the air, spinning and kicking Thompson back and throwing Johnson through the wall. Jackson whipped out a pistol, but Neo simply held out his hand and removed it from the Matrix.

All the while fighting in a viewable part of the Matrix…

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…viewable enough for a certain Captain Gabriel and his crew to see. "What is that?" the Operator, a woman named Echo, asked her Captain.

"That code… it can't be," whispered another crewmember. "Morpheus said that he died."

"Shh…" Gabriel hushed him as they heard an odd noise outside. The three crewmembers turned and saw that their Captain and his First Mate were not looking at the feed but outside. Something big was moving. They all suddenly heard rumbling footfalls.

"There's something out there…"

Gabriel exhaled as the echoing footsteps continued down the tunnel. "I think it's probably a good idea to get the hell out of here."

He ran to the cockpit. "Echo, I want that EMP charged. Cloud, Port, get to the gun turrets. Tell me if you see anything. Damon," he said to his First Mate, "drop us down from broadcast and take us back to Zion. I'm going to the gun turrets."

Damon charged the igniter and drove the_ Mindbreaker_ through the mysterious tunnels of the real… not noticing the dark shape slowly trailing them.

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"What is that?" Mattis whispered slightly. He looked at holographics, which were trying to confirm the six bioforms slowly approaching Gate 7.

A small icon popped up on his screen, confirming that the _Mindbreaker_ was coming from their broadcast position after consulting with the Oracle. But they only had five people on crew… and the sixth bioform was too large to be a human.

Mattis pressed a button on his headset. "Get me Commander Roland." He pressed the button again, patching himself into the main dock's headquarters.

"This is Lieutenant Mattis, requesting Gate 7 open. Mindbreaker on approach, but I do not request a standdown of arms. Continue to man the turrets."

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Inside the Construct, nine people sat moving small icons from right to left. "…man the turrets." One of the Virtual Control Operators noticed a small shaking in Gate 7.

"_Mindbreaker_, you are clear through Gate 7. What is that?" he whispered as the shaking grew louder.

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The gate slowly creaked open. Two APUs stood at attention, the APU Corps having been reactivated since the Sentinel 'attack.' They looked down the tunnel and heard the flaring of a hovership's pads.

The _Mindbreaker_, rear gun turrets blazing, flew down the pipe at an incredible speed. The APUs leapt to the side as the ship rocketed through the gate. The turrets went off, firing wildly at some unseen enemy.

_Mindbreaker _slid across the dock. People jumped out of the way as it plowed through standing APUs, crates and walls. The turrets kept firing as the _Mindbreaker_ ended its flight in a shower of sparks.

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BOOM!

Roland looked up as the lights flickered. "What the hell was that?"

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Fourteen APUs stumbled out onto the dock as a crew began trying to free the Mindbreaker's crew from their ship. Gabriel kicked the hatch open and his crew spilled out, all armed with plasma rifles.

The gun turrets outside the gate continued firing until the gate closed. Ghost, fully armed with an APU, slowly stepped towards the gate. He slowly began to squeeze the trigger as a piercing roar echoed from the tunnel.

Garth stepped beside Ghost, only holding a plasma rifle. Sweat coated his chest as he aimed the plasma rifle at the gate. WHAM!

WHAM!

It was trying to break in.

Everyone in the dock tensed. Several other Zionites in APUs aimed at the gate as well. SKRIIEEEEE!!!!!

The scraping of claw against metal. A final smash against the door put out the lights, but they heard it lumber away. The footsteps grew distant as auxiliary power was restored. Garth sighed as Ghost dismounted his APU and walked back.

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Raven leapt from her perch. A slight flicker threw her off course, but she landed gracefully anyways. Control continued to stumble back.

As she walked forward, prepared to make her point, he spun and kicked at her head. She merely held up a hand and blocked it, scattering dark energy around them.

Bane watched on silently, until another flicker threw him forward. Raven turned, but Bane had already leapt to the top of a pillar.

She turned back and threw Control into a pillar, still as stoic as ever. She frowned and exited as a third flicker caused a pillar to fall on the obese man.

"Shite, that was cool," Bane whispered, before leaping to the ground and mentally opening an exit for the unconscious fat man.

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Bane opened his eyes and sat up. Without talking to himself out loud, he stepped out the door and walked directly to Raven's cabin.

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Raven looked up. Someone was knocking. Bane, obviously. She sighed and opened her door, her ragged cloak swishing behind her. "What the hell was that, Rae?"

"That fat bastard pisses me off," she replied, not smiling at all. "Just give him a chance. He's alright."

"If only you knew… he's tried to kill me before." Bane smirked.

"Was he now?"

The lights went off. "The hell?" Bane shouted as they heard a loud roar. Raven's eyes dilated as Bane dashed out the door and started towards the elevator. He flicked out his switchblade and slapped the elevator button.

Raven ran after him. They stepped into the elevator and winced as they heard another smash. "Something's out there… sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Bane whispered as the lifted coasted up.

Raven said nothing.

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Control tried to blink, but his eyes were crusted shut. "Damn, how long was I out for?" He noticed Bane was gone, and got up to look for someone to annoy.

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"Sir!" a young officer shouted as he ran up to Mattis, who was frantically typing to the Zionites in the Construct. He had lost contact with them moments before the turrets went off.

He looked at the officer, snarling. The boy stepped back slightly as he relayed his message: "They didn't see what it was?"

Mattis sighed. "Did _anyone_ see what it is?"

"No, and no one's leaving Zion now. We're stranded until one of the Captains braves up."

"Dammit."


	30. The New Crewmate

Bane and Raven dashed out onto the dock in time to hear the roar. Ghost walked up to them. "Is that what you heard?" he whispered to his female apprentice. She nodded.

He briskly walked past them and down to the Command levels, where he knew that Roland would want a full report. He slapped the elevator button and stepped in.

Raven turned to face Captain Gabriel, who was still breathing heavily and cautiously glancing at the gate. "What happened?"

"Something was out there. We couldn't get a clear shot either… but it was big. That's all I can say." They winced as the distant creature roared again.

Technicians hustled about, using rigs to lift APUs and repairing damaged parts of the _Mindbreaker_. Raven walked over to where Garth had already started welding a hole in the hull of the ship.

"What's the damage, Garth?"

He turned and smirked at his friend. "This will only take two days to fix. Look at this." He gestured to a long scratch in the side of the ship. "This is an organic mark. We found small chemical deposits in the dents."

Raven frowned. "What does that mean?"

"We're not sure." He flipped his mask down and continued welding for a moment. Bane walked up. "Bloody hell… what could do that?"

"I'm not sure…"

Garth flipped the helmet up. "Well, we sent some samples of the stuff inside the scratch to chem labs. They should have it ready in about five hours."

The three saluted as Roland walked up. "Have any of you seen Captain Gabriel?"

Garth pointed towards the elevator. "I think his crew and him were hitting the showers. We're gonna be working for a long time."

"Excellent." Roland stepped away, but paused for a moment. "Try to work on your English, okay, Garth?"

Garth smirked and flipped the mask down. Roland quickly stepped to the elevator and rode it to the crew quarters. "Well, we're gonna go find Ghost," said Raven. She slapped him on the back.

"Ow!"

Raven stepped away and walked to the elevators. Bane followed her, casting a quick eye on the gate before walking into the lift.

Garth wiped sweat off his brow and continued welding. Sparks flew as technicians began assisting him. He glanced at the elevator and saluted, but Raven and Bane had already dropped out of sight.

All heads snapped up and several welding tools, still on, dropped to the ground as a final deafening roar echoed through the dock.

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Niobe quickly paced in front of Raven's cabin. "Ghost, did you find them?" she asked as her First Mate jogged up from Zion Control.

"No. Maybe they went after Control?"

She shook her head. "I doubt it. He wouldn't be that hard to catch up to." A quick grin flitted across Ghost's face before he nodded and walked away.

"Where are they?"

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Bane pushed the door open to the kitchen. "Why would Ghost be in here?"

Raven frowned at him. "I'm not looking for Ghost right now, I'm looking for that fat waste of carbon."

"Santa?"

The frown grew wider. "I hate you."

Bane laughed. "You know, sometimes I hate me too!" Raven sighed and continued looking for the fat man, who she guessed was probably halfway through a slop tank already.

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Ghost stepped out of the elevator and walked directly to where the technicians were repairing the still aflame ship. "Did the chemical analysis come back yet?" he asked the officer in charge.

"No, not yet. We're just repairing the ship as fast as humanly possible," said Garth. "God, how I love the phrases you people come up with."

The older man frowned. "You don't get to use them. You're new."

"New enough to be in charge of repairs?"

Ghost laughed. "In charge of repairs… wow, you sure have stepped up in the world. Have you seen Raven or Bane?"

"They were looking for you," he said before turning back to his work. Ghost sighed and turned around. "Gonna be a long day…"

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Raven's guess was right on the money. Control's stomach had apparently gone about two hours without food, so he decided to eat as much as he could from Zion's supply.

They found him submerged in a slop tank. He belched loudly, causing Raven to leap back. Bane considered leaving him there when Niobe burst through the kitchen doors.

"Ghost, they're in here!" she shouted. "Bane, Raven, where…GOD!" she shrieked as she saw the bloated body in the tank. Raven stepped back even farther.

"Third time since he's been here… that's it. I'm gonna teach you discipline like the training of hell…" she whispered quickly, and walked out fuming.

Control groaned. Bane turned as the fat man said quietly, "Where's she going?"

"To get the Beater, of course."

Control's eyes bulged. Raven snorted softly, but Ghost broke into laughter.

Niobe walked back in. "There we go." She handed Bane a folder. "He'll start immediately…"

It was Raven's turn to get angry. "No… no, you did not just…" She was interrupted by Bane and Control's shout: "YYYYEEESSSSSS!"

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A/N: If anyone's actually reading this, please review something!


	31. Counterbalance

The _Logos_ slowly floated out of Gate 2. Several APUs stood at attention in case whatever attacked came back. "It's unlikely," Roland had said earlier in the day. "But we need to be prepared."

The gate slowly closed. The people in the dock let out a heavy sigh all together as the lone ship flew to broadcast depth to contact the Oracle.

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It was quiet in the City. The only noise at three in the morning was the small whispering of a newscaster on a recording.

"It seems that the President has ordered the National Library to be shut down indefinitely after the Terrorist attack on the Library."

Deathstroke smirked behind his mask. "So, Purgatory is just beginning. I assumed that this would happen. I am right?"

A figure in the shadows sighed angrily. "Unfortunately, Deathstroke, you are right. I only hope it can prevent a holocaust."

"Purging machines won't end anything, even if every human in the Matrix dies. It would just take away some of Zion's greatest allies. Like the Oracle and Seraph."

"Do you not remember the plan? Zion must, regrettably, be destroyed as well."

"By your army of fantasy creatures? Wake up, dipshit. One Beast attacked Zion and couldn't even get through a door. How do you expect an army could get into the city?"

The other was silent for a moment. "We have…ways."

Deathstroke got up and stepped towards the door, turning off the TV. "Well, that's nice. I'm going to go greet your little friends."

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Niobe revved the car's engine and they sped out into the silent city streets. "Why didn't Control come into the Matrix?" asked Bane as Ghost loaded his guns.

"He's new. Besides, we needed something to preoccupy Sparky." Bane looked out the window, noticing a dark shape flitting from rooftop to rooftop.

"Ghost…"

The Asian man turned. "What is it?" Bane pointed out the window, towards a black and orange figure leaping to the street. "TURN!" he yelled, and Niobe distractedly veered into the front window of a shop.

The alarm went off. Bane yelled as Raven and Ghost kicked their doors open and tumbled onto the street. Niobe rolled out of her door and whipped out a single S9000, but the costumed figure simply ducked behind a parked vehicle on the opposite side.

Lights flicked on as Niobe fired angrily, but the shots merely ricocheted off of the truck. She took a second to reload as Ghost, Raven and Bane rushed down the street. The attacker quickly pumped his shotgun and looked over the hood of the car.

Sirens blared from far off. "Son of a bitch!" Niobe whispered before dodging several shots from the Frinesi. Deathstroke hid behind the truck again as Niobe fired twice, and fled.

He holstered his shotgun and gave chase.

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"Repeat, all units head for the Northwestern District," squawked the dispatcher. The two cops groaned. Another goose chase. "We're calling in the Titans." The senior cop exhaled at that.

"At least it'll be less dangerous with the Titans there," he said. The other cop turned before a sword slid through his head and nearly touched the first.

"Jesus Almighty," he said, before his door was opened and he was thrown onto the curb. He looked up and saw an Asian man aim a pistol at his forehead while two others got into the police car.

He winced as the man fired, but found himself still alive moments later. The man fired again and again, as a woman in a crocodile skin coat ran down the sidewalk. She was pursued by a man that he recognized from the most wanted posters: Deathstroke.

The woman pulled herself into the car as Deathstroke leapt into the air and fired a single shot from his shotgun. The Asian man jumped back and the bullets sank through the cop's chest.

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Niobe turned the car on and drove as soon as Ghost rolled over the top of the car. He fired at Deathstroke, who Matrix-dodged the shots and stepped over the dead cop. Ghost pulled out the younger cop and hopped in the car.

Niobe drove away as fast as she could. Deathstroke smirked and ran down the alley, heading directly for the Oracle's apartment building.

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The car pulled up to the building a few minutes later. Ghost was the first to get out, pulling out a sniper rifle with night vision and looked around.

"No sign of Deathstroke or the Agents… it's almost too easy," he said to Niobe. She got out, followed by Bane and Raven. "Sometimes easy is good," she reminded him.

They walked into the lobby, which was as usual devoid of all human life. Seraph stood in the center, hands behind his back. Ghost and Seraph bowed and the _Logos_ walked to the elevator.

Raven started as Deathstroke kicked down the door and fired at the elevator on Seraph's side, but the doors closed as the shot reached them.

They slowly coasted upwards, away from the looming fight, and towards the Oracle's.

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Seraph clenched his fist as the assassin program slowly stepped into the room, twirling a single blade. "Didn't I kill you?" Deathstroke asked.

"You cannot stop a fallen angel," he replied simply.

Deathstroke laughed. "That's a good line." He threw the silver blade at Seraph, who easily caught it with two fingers. It dropped to the ground as Seraph leapt into the air and threw a kick at Deathstroke, who spun to the side and punched Seraph.

Seraph caught his fist and threw Deathstroke to the wall, but the assassin crouched and leapt to the ceiling.

Seraph cracked his neck and jump-kicked Deathstroke, who rolled back onto the floor and kicked Seraph in the face.

The Asian program spun his legs, keeping the assassin at bay while he regained the upper hand. Deathstroke stumbled backwards as Seraph pushed back and kicked him in the chest. He formed a large dent in the wall, but quickly ran forward and threw a punch at Seraph.

Seraph blocked and returned the punch, but Deathstroke blocked his punch as well. The Exile spun his leg, sweeping the assassin's feet out from under him. Deathstroke kicked upwards, striking Seraph in the chin, and leapt to his feet. The two programs quickly assumed ready poses, neither tired a bit.

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The _Logos_ crew walked down the hallway and directly to the Oracle's apartment. Raven was the first to see the Oracle sitting next to Brown and Sati. "What's going on?"

The Oracle took a deep breath of smoke. "Where's your friend?" she asked Bane, ignoring Raven's question. Bane gulped. "He's… still in the Real World."

"Hmm…" the Oracle thought for a moment then continued. "That's too bad. Anyways, I know why you came to see me."

Ghost walked in after Niobe. "Do you know what it was?"

The Oracle took another puff. "I do. But it is not your time to know. All I can say is that sometimes someone can accidentally take the wrong path.

"And that mistake may cost you and your friends very much," she said, now turned to Raven. The blue haired girl stepped back a few feet, finding the Oracle's gaze piercing.

"Are these creatures evolutions of what were before the Renaissance?" Niobe asked. The Oracle frowned.

"These beasts are unnatural. They will be a great danger to you. Whatever you do, do not try to engage one, no matter what."

Niobe smirked as Ghost replied, "Roland will LOVE to do that."

The four began towards the door, but Brown stopped them. "Deathstroke is blocking your exit. Take the rooftop. You can run through the buildings to a hard line."

Ghost nodded and led the _Logos _to the stairs, and they dashed onto the rooftops.

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A cluster of dark figures spotted the _Logos _emerging from the rooftop door. All tensed as the first leapt an inhuman height into the air, landing on an office building. The three others followed suit.

A small, short program flipped up a communicator. "Agent Johnson, they're above the Megacortex building."

"Excellent, Robin. We're already inside."


	32. Second Cycle: Alpha of Omega

Ghost snapped his cell phone to his ear as the others ran inside. "Sparky," he said quickly as the door closed… twice. "What's going on?"

"Ha ha ha… jeez, where'd you get this guy? Anyways, looks like the feeds frozen. I'll get you a hard line… now."

Sparks pressed a button in the Real World, sending a signal directly to a phone inside the Megacortex building.

The Operator stared at the screen, checking for glitches. Control leaned over his shoulder and his eyes widened. "Sparks, they need to get out. Agents and the Titans!"

Sparks turned and saw the screen. "Oh no…"

"Ghost, there's some SERIOUS activity around there. Get to the hard line as fast as you can." The First Mate snapped his phone back down and ran after his crewmates.

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A vicious roundhouse punch sent Deathstroke back towards the door. Both programs were exhausted, but neither was close to losing.

"Damn… you're…good…" the assassin panted. Seraph had already caught his breath and slowly approached the program.

"We'll finish this some other time," he whispered to the Guardian, before running from the broken door and into the faint dawn. Seraph sighed and walked back up to the Oracle's apartment, relaxing his fists.

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Niobe dashed to the ringing phone and picked it up. Bane and Raven reached it next, but before Bane could answer, they heard a muffled thump. Followed by a cry of pain from Ghost.

"GHOST!" Raven yelled as she ran back up. Bane hesitated, but drew his sword and followed.

Ghost flew down the staircase, both Sig Sauers firing crazily at the Agents. Johnson leapt into the air, preparing to crush him, but Raven tackled him into the wall, and then drove his head further in with a reverse kick.

Bane wallran up the stairs, gutting Thompson with his sword, and kicked Jackson through the wall. Thompson backhanded him back down the stairs, where he narrowly avoided falling on Ghost. Putting away his sword, he picked the dazed man up and began dragging him to the hard line…

A dark shape swirled around him. He gasped and unsheathed the sword as Dark Raven swooped in. He leapt over sonic cannon fire and elbowed Speedy in the head. Bane bounced off of Beast Boy, adding another crack to the changeling's head, and slashed at Bumblebee. The female program dodged and kicked him in the chest.

Bane backflipped, kicking Starfire into Cyborg, who was pushed out of the enormous window. Kory gasped and dove after her friend.

The Rebel spun, accidentally smacking both Speedsters in the head with the blunt edge of his broadsword.

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"GO BANE!" Control shouted, spraying the Operator's hair with spit. Sparks wiped the saliva off and continued watching the feed…

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Kory grabbed Cyborg's arm and lifted him… just as Bane tripped a charging Aqualad and threw him out of the shattered window. All three plummeted to the ground in a tangled mass.

Bane jumped at Dark Raven, who had already formed a twin-bladed sword. He slashed at her several times, but she quickly made dark energy shields to protect herself. He dove to the ground as she fired a large blast of Azar energy, which continued on and pushed Bumblebee into a cubicle. The black girl was knocked out.

A large hole appeared in a wall near the two combatants. Jackson flew backwards and smashed through another window, his host instantly killed.

Bane was blown forwards by another bolt of dark energy. Dark Raven's eyes lit up, a dark gray, but they were soon replaced by a dull blue when Ghost cracked her over the head with a Sig Sauer.

"Bane, let's go!" he ordered, and he dashed to the hard line. Bane fired a few rounds at the bleeding Thompson, who dodged and returned fire just as Ghost jacked out. Bane hid behind a support pillar as Thompson fired, riddling the front of the pillar with holes.

His trenchcoat fluttered as he spun out from behind the pillar and fired again. This time, a lucky shot dropped Thompson onto one knee. Bane walked up and bashed his head in with the blunt edge of the broadsword.

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Raven kicked off of Johnson's chest and ran through the hole that she had carved in the cubicles while blowing Jackson away. She ducked to avoid a Desert Eagle shot, and leapt into the air. She was now on top of the cubicles.

Johnson fired at her twice. She delicately ran from wall to wall, still balancing herself on top. She saw Bane jack out and quickly jumped down, not seeing that Johnson was closing in on her easily.

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Outside, a short dark-haired person was dashing through the door, and down to where Raven was about to jack out. As he heard two gunshots, he gritted his teeth.

If his theory was correct, then it was imperative that Raven got out.

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Raven placed the phone back on the receiver. It rang just as Johnson fired.

Her mouth opened to scream, but she never got it out. The dark figure dove in front of the bullet, trenchcoat fluttering. The bullet went through, narrowly flying through Raven's legs.

Angrily, she charged up a vast amount of energy and launched it at the Agent. The host was completely incinerated as her eyes flared red for a moment.

Robin turned and saluted, before his eyes closed and his body relaxed. Raven picked up the phone and jacked out, only one thing on her mind.

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Cris watched silently in the Underground. Robin dove in front of the bullet and was pierced instantly. She frowned.

"Commander, come take a look at this."

The Commander and the rest of the crew walked over. "Is that… him?" The Commander frowned as well. "I wouldn't worry about it. The machines will have an upgrade by tomorrow."

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Raven slowly exhaled as she sat up in her chair. Niobe was already looking at the monitors with Control and Sparks, reloading the mainframe after the lockup.

"What happened?" asked Ghost, who was still in his chair. She noticed that he was cradling one arm.

"Robin… he stopped the Agents by… sacrificing himself…" she whispered hoarsely. Ghost hung his head.

Niobe decided to tell her something else. "Robin wasn't in the Matrix."

"Yeah," Control agreed, "it looks like someone else blocked that guy's shot." Raven glared at him. "You can't even READ the code. How would you know?"

Control grinned. "You really have no confidence in me, do you, Rae?"

Ghost walked to the cockpit. "I'll start up the ship." Niobe followed him up the stairs. Raven looked around, just noticing something.

"Where's Bane?"

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In the darkest part of the ship, Bane sat huddled. He was carving something… on his arm.

Crimson shimmered in the faint light as it slowly dripped down onto the ground, forming black pools. He groaned as a voice that was not his own slowly began to speak.

"He's not gone yet… you were wrong."

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Inside the Matrix, Brown shook his head. He was getting what the humans called a 'headache.' The program shuddered and walked into the kitchen for some cookies, in the hopes that they would end these recurring migraines.

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Neo tapped at the keyboard as quick as he could. A spiky-haired boy suddenly appeared in the Matrix, resting on the couch of Titans Tower.

The Matrix flickered… and all was still. Neo slowly walked to the hardline and jacked out, as a terrible roaring noise filled his ears. Purgatory was coming, and he was the ultimate aggressor.


	33. Resistance and Purgatory

Robin relaxed in his chair as Tesla plugged him into the Construct. The evolution had already begun, but the only place the Underground could resist was in the Matrix, against Wilson and Purgatory.

Fortunately, his friends believed him fully dead. Now he could progress with the mission in peace. As he walked through the streets with Cris and Exeter, he quickly loaded his weapons.

There is no stopping the fallen angel.

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Splice drove the _Maul _through the final rabbit hole, and up to the surface. His gaze settled on the fetus fields, and the heavy hovercraft jettisoned towards the power plants. His operator stared at the Matrix screens, noticing a slight flicker pass through the feed.

Not paying any attention, the crew jacked in as the _Mjolnir_ and the _Believer_ stationed themselves around the pools.

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A tall man wearing a gray trenchcoat gazed across the city. A slight flicker waved through the air. He turned to his companion, who was reloading his shotgun.

"You were mistaken? That's rich," the man said. Deathstroke shrugged. "I figured that they were working on the side of Purgatory. Ah well, chances are that the only thing I did was assure that Wingless won't help us."

The man nodded. "Wingless…"

"You're not thinking..." Deathstroke cut into his thoughts. "I know what you're thinking. NO. Absolutely not. There's no way we can trust them…"

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Cain looked up as the loud door creaked open. The white-haired program stepped in, twirling a single small blade and smiling. "11072. Cain. We need your help." The lanky program stood up and cracked his neck, smiling back at Deathstroke.

"We?"

The man walked in, trenchcoat fluttering behind him. Cain's eyes widened. "You brought a human?"

"Cain. Purgatory is coming and we need to stop it. For humans and programs alike. We're the only ones who know the truth… inside the Matrix. We have to stop the Haven's plans."

"Should we contact the HIVE?" asked the other program.

"Again, we've already gone ahead. Come and you can meet the team." Deathstroke, the human, and Cain slid out of the door.

Persephone stepped out of the shadows and cocked a gun. "What fun," she said simply, before following the three fighters.

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"This is our elite for Operations inside the Matrix," Deathstroke said slowly, gesturing to a pink-haired girl with a purple tunic and heavy shoes. "This is the Captain of our crew, outside the Matrix and in."

Exeter bowed slightly, and resumed his position with Robin and Cris.

"And this…" said Deathstroke, smiling insanely, "is my only failure." He patted Robin on the shoulder. The boy didn't blink. "Of course, he is still young and almost ready to be trained. Will you assist us?"

"He will," said Persephone, walking through the door. "As will I."

Deathstroke nodded. "Very well, then." He slowly placed his mask on his head and threw off his trenchcoat. "It's time for Purgatory to arrive." He sheathed the sword and pulled out the Mossberg shotgun.

CHH-CHK!

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A/N: This is the shortest story of an Unplugged Trilogy. The following chapter is simply a small spoiler of the next story, which will be much, much longer. If you read this entire story, thank you and I hope you enjoyed it!

The next story is entitled Unplugged II: Darkslaughter. It is sort of a combination of Reloaded and Revolutions, as this story was a combination of the Matrix and Reloaded.


	34. Preview: Unplugged II Darkslaughter

Unplugged II

Darkslaughter

"In the coming days, the only thing we have to fear is the greatest enemy of all."

The Oracle blinked slowly as Raven stepped back into the Hallway and fled.

Robin leapt over the other two Titans and kicked his clone in the head, leaving him with only two foes. Cyborg fired at the Rebel, who wallran around the android and fired several shots.

Seraph rapidly shot both guns, killing one policeman and disabling the other. He cartwheeled into the Agent and broke the program's neck with a quick twist.

Roland steered the Hammer higher and higher into the sky, before a large cluster of Sentinels began pulling it to the ground. A deafening roar was heard and the Sentinels scattered. Colt let out a war cry as he unleashed a torrent of bullets into the creature below. It fell, followed by thousands of quicker, smaller reptiles. SKRIIEEE!

Raven held up two glowing hands. The charging Sentinels exploded.

Author's Comments 1/10/05:

Thanks to the few people that have reviewed my small story:

**Catspee**: Thank you for your review. Up until then, I wasn't sure if I was actually going to continue posting it there. I hope you found time to read the ending.

**Juniorbins**: Thank you for being my first reviewer.

**LadyHood:** I noticed I was on your favorite story list. Thank you for your comments and I hope you enjoyed the ending.

**Sleeping Bag**: I'm glad that you enjoyed my story and thanks for your positive comments. I promise that I've erased a good amount of the rough spots in the sequel I'm currently writing, and I hope you like that too.


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